Gaetano Gandolfi San Matteo della Decima near Bologna 1734 - 1802 Bologna

The colour of the painting are richer and more vibrant than as shown in the catalogue illustration. The canvas has a fairly recent sympathetic relining which does not appear to have affected the paint surface at all. The paint surface is extremely well preserved, retaining much of the original impasto and higlights. There are some losses and wear along the edges. There is a small retored vertical tear beneath the Magdalene's elbow (4 cm.) but no apparent further damages. Inspection under ultra violet light reveals only very few and minor retouchings. The lot is offered unframed. AF
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Only recently rediscovered, this is a bozzetto for Gandolfi's large altarpiece in Bazzano, Oratorio del Suffragio, which is dated on the reverse of the canvas 1757; Gandolfi thus painted this sketch at the age of only 21 or 22 making it one of his earliest known paintings, and is preceded in date only by the large St. Jerome of 1756 (also in Bazzano, Oratorio del Suffrugio) and possibly The Calling of St. James the Greater (Piumazzo), variously dated to 1753¹ or 1757². Changes to the final version include the replacement of the cup held by the angel with a more ornate example, the addition of a cup or pot next to the bible, slight differences in the folds of the drapery and a less twisted angle for the Magdalene's head.

We are grateful to Dottssa. Donatella Biagi Maino for endorsing the attribution to Gandolfi on the basis of photographs.

1. By L. Bianchi in I Gandolfi, Rome 1936;
2. By R. Roli, Pittura Bolognese 1650-1800. Dal Cignani ai Gandolfi, Bologna 1977; and by C. Volpe, "I Gandolfi", in L'arte del Settecento Emiliano. La pittura, exhibition catalogue, Bologna 1979.