Bartolomeo Cavarozzi

Dr Jan Billiter, Vienna by 1928;

From whom acquired by the grand-father of the present owner.

L. Zahn, Caravaggio, Berlin 1928, reproduced pp. 48 - 49, fig. 7 (as Italian Caravaggesque);

R. Longhi, 'Ultimi studi su Caravaggio e la sua cerchia', in Proporzioni, vol. I, 1943, p. 53 (as Cavarozzi);

A.E. Pérez Sánchez, Borgianni, Cavarozzi y Naldi en España, Madrid 1964, p. 47 (as Cavarozzi);

B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Turin 1990, p. 96 (as Cavarozzi);

D. Sanguineti (ed.), Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, 'Sacre Famiglie' a confronto, exhibition catalogue, Turin 2005, p. 45 (as not possible to judge from old photographs alone).

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: This painting has a fairly old stretcher. The old varnish and past restoration is also undisturbed, however the lining itself is quite recent, maintaining the structural security of the picture. There are bands of old filling and retouching slightly extending some edges, and in general the dark Caravaggiesque background has been fairly freely filled out in places. Although the old varnish is opaque to ultra violet light there are undoubtedly quite a few old tears in the background: one in the upper left corner behind Joseph's bald head, one quite long old tear in the lower left background with a broad patch of overpaint nearby (although not infringing on the white drapery,) another small three cornered tear by the middle of the right edge in the background, with another probable small damage above in the upper right background. The figures themselves have been largely preserved in beautiful condition. The fine modelling of the head of the Madonna is almost untouched, with a little thinness in the shadowy sockets of the eyes as might be expected in dark ground paintings. There is some old strengthening by the parting of her hair and a little also in the lower more shadowy right side of her head. Joseph's head is also slightly thin above the eye but strongly brushed in elsewhere. Behind his ear on the left there is a patch of rough overpaint. The Child's head also has a patch of old repaint and His far eye is a little thin. There is a narrow retouched line perhaps an old scratch or tear also across the His shoulder. However otherwise the vigorous brushwork throughout the figure of the Child and especially in the magnificent white drapery is exceptionally well preserved. Despite the dimness of the outer dark background at present, the vividness of the brushwork in this central group retains its dramatic effect. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"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."

This beautiful Holy Family, until now only known to scholars from old black-and-white photographs, was painted in the second decade of the seventeenth century by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, one of Caravaggio’s most enigmatic followers. The composition is marked by a great immediacy, particularly in the way the Mother and Child look out and engage with the viewer, while Joseph stands discreetly in the background, gently gazing at the Madonna. The dramatis personae are presented as developments of Caravaggio’s ‘types’: the figures are shown in a more monumental pose and while Cavarozzi has spared no effort in depicting the realism of the splendid white drapery, the underworld grittiness often discernible in Caravaggio’s paintings has made way for a more refined and elegant beauty, particularly in the figure of the Virgin.

Cavarozzi must have enjoyed great success with his depictions of the subject for he returned to it several times in his career and his compositions were much copied both during his lifetime and afterwards. The present work is an autograph variant of the painting owned by the Gruppo San Paolo Imi in Turin which should be considered the prototype for Cavarozzi’s various treatments of the subject, despite being for many years ascribed to Francisco de Zurbarán.¹ The most notable difference between the two versions is that the figures in the Turin prototype are shown full length.
 
The Holy Family is placed in a dark room with a strong light penetrating the scene from the left. In both the present and the Turin paintings the figures are arranged in very similar poses and with the same palette; both the physiognomies and the sumptuous folds of the drapery are also similarly presented. The Turin version includes Saint Joseph’s right hand just to the left of the Child while some plants and rocks are also shown scattered in the foreground to the left of Mary. Other variants of the design, some of which are probably copies, are listed by Nicolson (see Literature). One version of the Turin painting is in the Galleria Spada in Rome and was for many years attributed to Genoese hands, among them Bernardo Strozzi and subsequently to Domenico Fiasella, leading to the suggestion that the Turin prototype may have originally been in Genoa.²

Another treatment of the composition by Cavarozzi includes the work in the Galleria Nazionale della Liguria a Palazzo Spinola in Genoa.³ In this interpretation the Madonna’s white folds are replaced by dark grey drapery and, significantly, Joseph looks directly at the viewer. Variants of this design include the painting in the Pinacoteca dell’Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in Turin and the work offered in these Rooms, 17 December 1998, lot 80.⁴

 We are grateful to Dott. Daniele Sanguineti for endorsing the attribution on the basis of a recent colour photograph. Dott. Sanguineti curated the 2004 exhibition Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, 'Sacre Famiglie' a confronto, and plans to publish the present work in a forthcoming article.

1. See Sanguineti, under Literature, pp. 42-49, cat. no. 1, reproduced in colour and with details. Interestingly, Cavarozzi is known to have been in Spain in the years 1617-20.
2. Idem, p. 45.
3. Idem, pp. 50-61, cat. no. 2, reproduced in colour p. 51.
4. Idem, pp. 62-77, cat. no. 3, reproduced in colour p. 63.