Attributed to Vicente Carducho

Estimate

4,000 - 6,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Vicente Carducho
Two episodes from the life of St Francis de Paula: a prince attended by two pages kneeling while being crowned by the saint; the saint admonishing a noble woman attended by two other women and cripples by an altar
Both pen and brown ink heightened with white (partly oxidized), over black chalk on light brown washed paper. One bears lettering in pen and brown ink: A, B (twice), C (twice).

Provenance

Sir William Stirling-Maxwell (1818-1878);
the Stirling family of Keir, sale London, Christie's, 28 March 1979, lots 236 and 237, pls. 21 and 22 (as Vincente Carducho)

Literature

G. Mckim Smith, 'Dibujos poco conocidos de Vincente Carducho,' Archivio Español de Arte, LVII-225, 1984, p. 92, note 3 (as Vincente Carducho);
Priscilla Muller, Dibujos Españoles en la Hispanic Society of America del siglo de oro a Goya, exh. cat., Madrid, Museo del Prado, 2006, p. 108 and p.109, note 2 (as Círculo de Vincente Carducho)

Condition

Both drawings livelier and less greenish than in catalogue illustrations. A) Scene with Coronation: Ink has eaten through paper in lower right coner. Two vertical creases, in centre and towards left. Some water damage towards bottom. Small think spot, backed with japan paper, bottom centre. Minor losses at left and right edges. Some light staining and foxing throughout, but drawing itself still good and strong. B) Scene with priest admonishing woman: One or two minor thin areas towards bottom right. Light diagonal crease, top left corner. Some very light foxing, and one or two small stains towards bottom right, but otherwise good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

These two sheets come from an important group of Spanish drawings, sold from the Stirling-Maxwell collection in 1979 (see Provenance). Five of those drawings, illustrating episodes from the life of Saint Francis de Paula, were clearly by the same hand and must originally have formed part of a larger series. In the sale catalogue, they were attributed to Vicente Carducho, an attribution endorsed by Mckim Smith in 1984, when cataloguing the two sheets from the group that had been acquired by the Pierpont Morgan Library. Mckim Smith compared the Morgan drawings to those depicting scenes from the life of St. Diego de Alcalá, in the Uffizi.¹ Another drawing from the same series, now in the collection of the Hispanic Society of America (inv. no. LA 425), has, however, been given by Priscilla Muller to the circle of Carducho.

The subject represented is the moment when a king, possibly the French King Charles VIII, alongside his son and courtiers, kneels before the Saint, with an altar nearby.

1. See Diego Angulo and Alfonso Pérez Sánchez, A Corpus of Spanish Drawings, Madrid 1600-1650, London 1977, nos. 171 to 173, illustrated pls. XLVIII, figs. 171-3