Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Probably Alejandro María Aguado, Marqués de las Marismas del Guadalquivir, Paris;
Probably his sale, Paris, Bonnefons de Lavialle, 20 March 1843, lot 78;
Carmen Aguado, Paris;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Delorme & Collin du Bocage, 11 June 2003, lot 8 (as Attributed to Murillo);
There purchased by the present owner.

Probably C. Boyd, Velazquez and Murillo : a descriptive and historical catalogue of the works of Don Diego de Silva Velazquez and Bartolomé Estéban Murillo, London 1883, p. 203, cat. no. 209e;
Probably D. Angulo Iñiguez, Murillo, Madrid 1981, vol. II, p. 456, cat. no. 1.637 (under "Obras Discutibiles");
E. Valdivieso, Murillo: Catálogo Razonado de Pinturas, Madrid 2010, p. 444, cat. no. 263, reproduced.

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 been recently restored. As can be read in the catalogue, it has been returned to its original format and looks well as a result. The paint layer has been cleaned. The original canvas does not appear to have been lined but the tacking edges have been reinforced to allow for proper stretching. Under ultraviolet light there are very few retouches visible in the figure itself and retouches are only visible in the right hip, the upper thigh on the right and in the left forearm. Along the illuminated ground, in the sky and in the remainder of the crucifix there are no restorations. There are a few spots of retouch on the right and left edge and around the sign "INRI" at the top of the cross there is an area which reads darkly under ultraviolet light, yet this does not necessarily correspond to restoration. The painting should be hung as is.
"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."

Recently published by Enrique Valdivieso as a fully autograph work by Murillo (see Literature), the present Crucifixion reappeared in 2003 when it was sold at auction. An inscription on the verso of its prior stretcher (see fig. 1) indicates that it once belonged to Carmen Aguado, who died in 1911. Angulo Iñiguez records a crucifixion which belonged to Alejandro María Aguado, Marqués de las Marismas del Guadalquivir, a wealthy banker and collector who died in Paris in 1842, from whom Carmen Aguado may have inherited this picture. The catalogue from the large sale of Alejandro María Aguado's collection in Paris in March 1843 lists that work as a "Christ en croix. Une complete obscurité environne le corpe du Christ exposé sur la croix; seulement une lueur rougeâtre fair distinguer, à l'horizon, les edifices de la ville de Jérusalem. / Une figure. ...B. haut. 45 c., larg. 37 c."   While the picture in its present condition is both on canvas, and lacking a view of Jerusalem, it may be conceivable that the work was once laid on panel, from which it might have been removed when it was relined onto the shaped canvas of larger dimensions as it is published in Valdivieso (see Literature). Since the recent Valdivieso publication the shaped additions have been removed and the painting has been returned to a rectangular format. In its current state the painting comes very close to the original dimensions stated in the 1843 auction catalogue. The slight discrepancy in size may be linked to the relining and resizing of the painting through its history.    

We are grateful to William Jordan for clarifying this painting's history and for supporting the attribution to Murillo based on photographs.