- 169
Antiveduto Gramatica
Description
- Antiveduto Gramatica
- The Denial of Saint Peter
- oil on canvas
Provenance
From whom acquired in 1974 by the family of the present owner.
Condition
"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
Antiveduto's origins were Sienese but he was probably born in Rome and worked there his whole life. He led a prolific studio, in which it is said the young Caravaggio was employed, having just arrived there from Lombardy. There is little doubt, however, that it was Antiveduto who was more influenced by the young Caravaggio, than vice versa. The scene depicted here is that of the denial of Saint Peter as specifically recounted in the Gospel of Luke. The expressive figure of the accusatory maid is a favourite motif of Antiveduto’s – females such as she, although usually represented as saints, recur throughout his repertoire. Two particularly comparable female figures, close in spirit and in execution, are Saint Praxedis at the Galleria Sabauda, Turin,1 and the Madonna and Child with a book, of which there are several known versions.2 In the latter, the figure of the Madonna has similarly fine pleats of gathered white linen at her wrist, and Saint Praxedis wears the same outfit as the maid in the present painting, likewise gesturing with a sharply lit outstretched hand. The depiction of female figures and saints in profile, their pale features against dark backgrounds, as seen here, can be found in numerous examples of Antiveduto’s work.
1. See H. P. Riedl, Antiveduto della Grammatica (1570/71–1626): Leben und Werk, Munich 1998, reproduced pl. V.
2. Riedl 1998, figs 38–40.