Lot 304
  • 304

Giuseppe Bazzani

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
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Description

  • Giuseppe Bazzani
  • Pietà with Mary Magdalene
  • inscribed on the reverse on the stretcher:  Bozzetto della Picta del Duomo di Mantova
  • oil on canvas
  • 36 1/4 x 55 3/4 inches

Provenance

According to Caroli, Private Collection, Venice, along with a pendant, The Deposition, currently in a Private collection, Mantua (see Caroli, op. cit., p. 203, nos. 308-309)
With Italico and Alessandro Brass, Venice, 1924-1950;
From whom purchased by Severance A. Millikin, Cleveland;
By whom given to The Cleveland Museum of Art in 1955 [acc. no. 1955.682].

Exhibited

Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Venetian Tradition, 1956, no. 4.

Literature

O. Benesch, "Maulbertsche zu den Quellen Seines Malerischen Stils," in Städel-Jahrbuch, 1924, vol. 3-4, pp. 139-141, reproduced pl. 113;
N. Ivanoff, "Tre Pietà di Giuseppe Bazzani," in Emporium, vol. CIX, April 1949, p. 162-166, reproduced fig. 3;
H. S. Francis, "A Pietà by Giuseppe Bazzani: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance Milliken," in Cleveland Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. XLIII, March 1956, pp. 44-46, reproduced p. 42;
Art Quarterly, Autumn 1956, vol. XIX, p. 305, no. 4;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Handbook, 1958, p. 147, reproduced fig. 427;
N. Ivanoff, "Band I," in Kindlers Malerei Lexikon, Zurich 1964, p. 251, reproduced;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Handbook, 1966, p. 147, reproduced;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Handbook, 1969, p. 147, reproduced;
B. Fredrickson & F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections, Cambridge 1972, pp. 21, 296, 574;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Handbook, 1978, p. 148, reproduced;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Catalogue of Paintings:  Part Three.  European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries, Cleveland 1982, pp. 308-309, no. 137, reproduced;
F. Caroli, Giuseppe Bazzani: L'Opera completa, Milan 1988, p. 203, no. 308, reproduced;
A. Chong, European & American Painting in The Cleveland Museum of Art:  A Summary Catalogue, Cleveland 1993, p. 8, reproduced.

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has not been restored for many years. The canvas has an old lining. The paint layer is very dirty and there is no depth to the palette due to the lack of varnish. Across the bottom edge there is an addition of approximately one and a half inches and the top edge is similarly "tidied up" with a small addition. In the hand of the figure on the left there is a horizontal break approximately four inches long and a very thin scratch in her cheek, also approximately four inches long. Elsewhere the only structural damage is a circular fill in the background in the upper center. The remainder of the painting seems to be in very healthy state and it seems more than likely that if the picture were to be properly cleaned, the image would acquire a lot more life and brightness. The painting is generally in very good state.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Like virtually all of Bazzani's nocturnal scenes, the present canvas has been dated to the last period of his career, sometime after 1750.  Although the inscription on the stretcher claims that this work was a study for Bazzani's larger and more articulated Pietà with Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist in Mantua's Duomo, the present painting is actually much later in date and its rough, dark and almost unfinished appearance is meant to convey a sense of religious fervor and humility.