Bernardo Strozzi

From the Sagredo album (numbering on the verso: P.G. N^o46),
the provenance of which possibly as follows:
E. Stroiffi; 
Doge Nicolò Sagredo, Venice, by circa 1654;
his brother, Stefano Sagredo, Venice;
his nephew, Zaccaria Sagredo, Venice;
his wife, Cecilia Sagredo, until sold, circa 1743;
private collection, Lyon, circa 1919

L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, Rome 1966, p. 224, reproduced fig. 466;
C. Marcenaro, Mostra dei Pittori genovesi a Genova nel '600 e nel '700, exhib. cat., Genoa, Palazzo Bianco, 1969, p. 10;
F. Viatte, Acquisitions du Cabinet des Dessins 1973-1983, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1984, p. 30;
M. Newcome, Le dessin à Gênes du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1985, p. 62, under no. 51, and p. 66, under no. 53 (with the incorrect plate number from Mortari);
M. Newcome, 'Oil Sketches and Drawings by Bernardo Strozzi', Antichità Viva, XXXII, 6, 1993, p. 17;
L. Mortari,  Bernardo Strozzi, Rome 1995, p. 239, no. 64, reproduced fig. 64;
Bernardo Strozzi, exhib. cat., Genoa, Palazzo Ducale, 1995, p. 301, no. 101 (entry by P. Boccardo), reproduced; p. 132, under no. 18; p. 314, under no. 108;
J. Bober, I grandi disegni italiani del Blanton Museum of Art dell'Università del Texas, Milan 2001, under no. 32

Window mounted, and overall fresh and in good condition. A slight trace of a fold running vertically on the back of the head of the Magdalene, this is due to the line where the sheet was hung to dry. A light reddish stain bottom right and a few tiny light brown stains at the top near the back of the Magdalene's head and a few at the bottom. The left margin, at the top, is slightly irregular. The pen and ink and chalks very fresh. Drawing is sold unframed.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This exceptional and famous drawing was first published in 1966 by Luisa Mortari who dated it to Strozzi's late Genoese period, between the late 1620s and 1633, when he left for Venice.  Mortari suggested in both editions of her monograph (see Literature) a close stylistic association between the present sheet and the Head of a Young Man in the Uffizi,¹ and similarities with the Head of a Woman, formerly in the Suida Manning collection.²  Mary Newcome first pointed out (see Literature, op. cit., 1985, p. 66) the relation with a black chalk drawing in the Louvre, Head of a woman (recto), also from the Sagredo album.³  Piero Boccardo suggested that the Louvre drawing, which is datable to Strozzi's Venetian period, could be a later ripensamento of the same subject as the present sheet (see Literature, Strozzi exhibition catalogue, 1995, p. 314).  He stresses closer similarities between these two studies than with the one formerly in the Suida Manning collection, also a work of Strozzi's Venetian period. 

Strozzi not only drew but also painted the subject of the Penitent Magdalene on many occasions during his career.  Boccardo suggests that this drawing is related to a painting of a Magdalene in a private collection, Florence (fig.1),⁴ generally dated by scholars to the years 1610-15, but which he proposes is instead from Strozzi's late Genoese period.  Although the painting appears to be in very bad condition and difficult to judge, he stresses close similarities in the composition with the present drawing and suggests that the crucifix and the skull could have been obliterated at a later stage.  Although Boccardo's theory seems plausible, the present drawing has surely been conceived for a more elaborate and important representation of the Penitent Magdalene and also one of a different format from that painting.  Here the body of the saint is bending towards the crucifix allowing much more space around her figure, where the artist has placed, as well as the skull in the foreground, a book and an hourglass.

The painterly quality of this work, characterized by the use of both red and black chalk, reinforced with pen and brown ink, especially for strengthening the Magdalene's hair, makes it an extraordinary and unique sheet among Strozzi's surviving drawings.  It is quite finished and executed with freedom and individuality.  Although it has been associated with other chalk studies which could relate to the same subject, this is the only instance in which Strozzi has studied the complete image of the Penitent Magdalene.  It retains an exceptional spontaneity in the depiction of this devotional image which must surely have been conceived for an important commission, as yet unidentified.

1.  Inv. n. 1824; L. Mortari, op. cit., 1966, p. 220, reproduced fig. 469

2.  Blanton Museum of Art, The Suida-Manning Collection, inv. no. 532.1999; J. Bober, op. cit., no. 32, reproduced

3.  Bernardo Strozzi, exhib. cat., Genoa, Palazzo Ducale, 1995, p. 314, reproduced p. 315

4.  L. Mortari, op. cit., 1966, p. 106, reproduced fig. 88