Attributed to Francisco Ribalta, After Sebastiano del Piombo

C. Wright, A Catalogue of the Old Master Paintings in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J.V. Feather at Bridley Manor, Surrey 1974, pp. 6, 18-20, cat. no. 4, reproduced (suggests it could be of the 16th century, but notes that Michael Hirst suggested a possible attribution to Francisco Ribalta).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is painted on a very fine piece of linen. It can be seen that the paint layer is very delicate within the sleeve of Christ, and the fine grain to the linen can be seen quite clearly. The canvas is lined. This is a picture that has been quite heavily varnished. While the lining has probably diminished some of the texture, given the fineness of the original canvas and delicacy of the paint layer, the picture probably did not originally have a lot of texture or impasto. There are easily visible restorations across the bottom edge. These restoration enter into the right wrist, and are clearly visible in the left arm of Christ. The darker colors of the background to the left of the head of Christ are clearly abraded but have not been restored. There are losses beneath his chin and a small loss in his mouth. The face reads very well, with only a couple of small losses and very little abrasion. The head of the figure in the upper left is also very well preserved, with only isolated restorations. The view in the distance in the upper right seems to be quite healthy, as does a lot of the cross held by Christ. Although there is abrasion to the left and right of Christ, much of the picture seems to be in very healthy state. In my opinion, this does seem to be a 16th century picture, and if restored properly, it would be seen to be in quite good condition despite the losses.
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This canvas follows Sebastiano del Piombo's Christ Carrying the Cross in the Museo del Prado, Madrid (inv. no. P000345), which Sebastiano completed in Rome around 1516 for the Valencian ambassador to Rome, Jerónimo Vich y Valterra.  In 1521, Vich brought the painting home with him to Valencia, and it remained in his family's ancestral home until 1656, when it was gifted to King Philip IV.  Having been in Spain for nearly its entire history, Sebastiano's dramatic and arresting composition inspired a number of copies by Spanish followers during the artist's lifetime and in generations to follow.  Among the most prominent of these was the Valencian artist Francesco Ribilta, who is known to have made a number of copies of the composition.  We are grateful to José Gómez Frechina who, on the basis of images, has suggested a tentative attribution to Francisco Ribalta.