Lot 243
  • 243

Benedetto Luti

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 USD
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Description

  • Benedetto Luti
  • Allegory of the Elevation of Cardinal Deacon Oddone Colonna to the Papal Chair as Pope Martin V
  • Pen and brown ink and wash over black and red chalk, heightened with white, on six joined sheets of paper, some of which are pentimenti cut out and made up by the artist;
    bears old inscription lower left: [I]l Cav': Benedetto Luti/[f]ece in Roma.

Provenance

Probably Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri, his inventory 1722: 'Disegno in cornice di braccia 1. 1/3, di penna, e acquerello.  Di mano di Benedetto Luti fiorentino, scolare di Carlo Maratti, rappresenta l'Assunzione di Papa Martino 5 assunto al soglio di S. Pietro.  Disegno terminato e condotto a perfezione, fatto dallo stesso per lo sfondo dellla Galleria del Palazzo Colonna in Roma';
sale, New York, Christie's, 28 January 2000, lot 33  

Literature

G. Campori, Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventari inediti, Modena 1870, pp. 521-2;
R. Maffei, Benedetto Luti, l'ultimo maestro, Florence 2012, p. 286, p. 289, reproduced p. 288 and color plate 34

Condition

Laid down on a board, some buckling of the paper to the top left area near the corner. The artist has done a number of changes cutting out sections especially to the left and some of the joints are slightly visible. There are losses of pigments to the white heightening. Some rubbing of the surface. Overall the colors are fresh . Sold mounted and in an old carved wooden frame.
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.

Catalogue Note

This is a rare finished study by Luti for his ceiling painting, installed by the end of August 1700 in the Audience Chamber in Palazzo Colonna, Rome (fig. 1).  The redecoration of the room had been begun in 1697, at the time of the wedding of Filippo II, Colonna and Olimpia Pamphili.1

This is most probably the drawing mentioned in Niccolò Gabburri's inventory of 1722 (see Provenance).2   From this elaborate study it appears that Luti first conceived of the composition with an upright format, but ultimately decided to make it horizontal, making the existing figures more squat and expanding the composition by the addition of more figures to both sides, to fit the space of the room.  The subject is the elevation to the Papacy of Cardinal Oddone Colonna (1346-1431), who was elected Pope Martin V in 1417.  At the top of the composition, floating in the air, is an allegorical figure of the sacred college of the Council of Constance, which unanimously elected Colonna Pope, pointing to the Cathedra Petri, visible in the upper right corner.  Another female allegorical figure, holding a dish, kneels before the future Pope presenting to him the keys of St. Peter.  In the lower right of the composition are the theological Virtues, with Charity in the foreground.  Also very prominent in this part of the composition is another allegorical female, seated on a lion and holding a column, the emblem of the Colonna family.  To the left are the four cardinal Virtues.  Some of these figures are more clearly developed in the painting, with the addition of an angel holding an olive branch and pursuing Heresy and Schism, a tribute to Martin V, who ended the great schism in the Church. 

A less finished study in the same format as the painting is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Formerly catalogued as anonymous, it was correctly attributed by Giancarlo Sestieri.3   Although the Victoria and Albert Museum drawing is quite sketchy, and much less finished than the present lot, it was thought by E.P. Bowron to be possibly the drawing mentioned in Gabburri's inventory.The degree of finish of the present drawing and its large size - close to the measurement of 781 mm., including the frame, given in the inventory - make this, however, the more likely candidate.

1.  R. Maffei, op. cit., p. 154 and p. 288
.
2.  Ibid., p. 287; Descrizione della Galleria Gabinetto dell'Illustrissimo Signore Cavaliere  N. Gabburri, ms.,1722, BNCF, II.IV. 240, c. 7r: 61 

3.  Inv. no. 9087; R. Maffei, op. cit., p. 288, reproduced; P. Ward-Jackson, Italian Drawings, London 1980, vol. II, p. 194, no. 1248 (Anonymous: School unknown), reproduced

4.  E.P. Bowron, The Paintings of Benedetto Luti (1666-1724), Ph.D. Diss., New York, Institute of Fine Arts, 1979, p. 212.