Nicolas Régnier

Lt. Col. J. Clitherow;
His Sale, Christie's, 25 November 1932, lot 77, as "Guido", for 88 gns. to Spiller;
Anonymous sale, Copenhagen, Bruun  Rasmussen, 7 November 1996, lot 163, where purchased by the present owner.

A. Lemoine, Nicolas Régnier, Paris 2007, p. 286, cat. no. 108, reproduced in colour p. 149.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas has been lined and the paint surface is stable and flat. A horizontal seam has been consolidated and there is restoration along it to replace loss. Evidence of a stretcher mark can be seen. Paint loss to the yellow drapery has been replaced but the restoration is a little clumsy. A 20cm diagonal tear through the blue and yellow drapery, centre right, has been consolidated and restored. A scattering of minor restorations can be seen to the right side of the sitter's face along with others to the torso, right arm and legs denoting previous small loss and the reduction of cracking. One or two restorations to the sky can also be detected as well as a scattering through the background. The paint texture and impasto is well preserved and there is little evidence of abrasion particularly to the finer details. The colours are strong and saturate well. There is the remains of an older varnish in situ across the paint surface and a improvement in the tonality would be achieved with its removal. Overall, the painting is in good original condition. Offered in a part carved polychrome frame in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Annick Lemoine believes this to be a late work by Régnier, dating from the 1640s or 1650s, when the artist was established in Venice. The treatment of the figure in the present painting, and in particular the handling of the drapery, can be compared to other works of this date by Régnier such as his Penitent Magdalen in the Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery.¹ Mme. Lemoine has suggested that Saint Christina may have been commissioned as the companion piece to a Saint Sebastian in the Museo Civico in Bassano del Grappa, inv. 140.² Both paintings are certainly heavily influenced by Bolognese idealism and have both in the past been attributed to Guido Reni.

When this painting was cleaned after the Bruun Rasmussen sale, the restorer removed the overpaint to reveal the arrows piercing Christina's body. Christina, an early Christian martyr, was the daughter of a Roman nobleman who distributed her father's gold and silver idols to the poor. As punishment, he had her scourged, imprisoned and then thrown into Lake Bolsena with a millstone around her neck. She survived all these and further tortures but was ultimately martyred by the executioners' arrows.

 

1. See A. Lemoine, Nicolas Régnier, p. 302, cat. no. 134, reproduced.

2. See A. Lemoine, op. cit., p. 287, cat. no. 109.