Lot 31
  • 31

Jusepe de Ribera, called Spagnoletto

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 GBP
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Description

  • Jusepe de Ribera, called lo Spagnoletto
  • St Francis of Paola
  • signed with monogram lower right: JR
    and inscribed upper right: CHARI / TAS (AR in ligature)
  • oil on canvas

Provenance

Private collection, Stonington, Connecticut;

By whom anonymous sold ('Property of a Private Collector, Stonington, Connecticut'), New York, Sotheby's, 9 June 1983, lot 93;

Private collection, Madrid.

Literature

N. Spinosa, Ribera, L'opera completa, Naples 2003, p. 320, under cat. no. A232;

N. Spinosa, Ribera. La obra completa, Madrid 2008, p. 441, under no. A278 (this and the above as a replica of problematic authorship).

Condition

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The canvas has been lined and this is ensuring an even and stable structural support and has successfully secured the overall pattern of drying craquelure. Paint Surface The paint surface has a rather uneven and cloudy varnish layer and would certainly benefit from revarnishing to ensure a more even surface coating. The craquelure pattern mentioned above is stable. Inspection under ultra violet light show the varnish layers to be very opaque and discoloured, suggesting that cleaning would be beneficial. A number of retouchings are visible under ultra violet light including several areas in the background around the cloak of St. Francis. There is also a horizontal line running in from the left vertical framing edge above St. Francis's right hand and down towards his left forearm. These retouchings appear to have been applied many years ago and I assume that the long line covers a repaired tear. There appear to be small retouchings on the flesh tones with more concentrated retouchings around St. Francis's left eye. There is also evidence of a cleaning test in the lower left corner. I would expect there to be other retouchings below the older opaque varnish layers which are not easily identifiable under ultra violet light. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in reasonably good and stable condition and I am sure that many of the retouchings could be reduced were they to be removed during the cleaning process. The painting should respond well to cleaning and it is encouraging to note that the fine detail of St. Francis's face, beard and hands appear to be well preserved.
"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

This painting is dated by both Nicola Spinosa and Craig Felton to about 1640 on the basis of its close compositional and stylistic affinities with a canvas of the same subject, signed and dated 1640, in a private collection, Geneva.1 The paintings share a similar disposition of the figure, though with hands differently arranged: where here Saint Francis grasps his staff tightly with both hands, in the Geneva painting he holds a piece of paper in his right and rests his left gently on a staff. No other version of the present arrangement is known, while several copies of the Geneva composition exist, such as that in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachussetts. 

We are grateful to Prof. Nicola Spinosa for endorsing the attribution to Ribera on the basis of photographs. With the benefit of better photographs and, subsequently first hand inspection, Prof. Spinosa has comprehensively dispelled any doubts expressed on the painting's attribution in his 2003 and 2008 monographs on the artist.  

1. N. Spinosa, Ribera. La obra completa, Madrid 2008, p. 441, no. A278.