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Lot Essay
Once fully attributed to Moretto da Brescia, the present composition is now considered to be a studio variant based on Moretto's Visitation, an autograph work first documented in the Aldobrandini collection, now in a private collection in Rome (see P.V. Begni Redona, Il Moretto da Brescia, 1988, no. 33). While the arrangement of the figural group closely follows that of the original composition, the background elements differ, most notably in the addition of the classical-style building and the placement of the figures outside instead of within an interior. Another version of this subject is in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (Inv. no. 118).
The well-known biblical scene that is the subject of the Gentili painting recalls the meeting of the Virgin Mary with her cousin Elisabeth, the mother of Saint John the Baptist. The intimacy of the moment is communicated through gentle figural gestures. The two relatives tenderly embrace as Joseph looks on, his head slightly bowed in reverence. Particularly beautiful touches include the classical building behind the characters and the delicately rendered garden, a motif closely associated with Marian symbolism.
The head of Saint Joseph with its dark, curly hair shows a remarkable similarity to Saint Mark in the Capella del Santissimo Sacramento in the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, Brescia, while the figure of Saint Elizabeth recalls a veiled lady in conversation with another figure in Moretto's celebrated altarpiece depicting the Feast in the house of Simon, an original commission for the Convent of San Giacomo Maggiore in Venice, now in the Museo Diocesano (see P.V. Begni Redona, pp. 395-399, no. 95).
The well-known biblical scene that is the subject of the Gentili painting recalls the meeting of the Virgin Mary with her cousin Elisabeth, the mother of Saint John the Baptist. The intimacy of the moment is communicated through gentle figural gestures. The two relatives tenderly embrace as Joseph looks on, his head slightly bowed in reverence. Particularly beautiful touches include the classical building behind the characters and the delicately rendered garden, a motif closely associated with Marian symbolism.
The head of Saint Joseph with its dark, curly hair shows a remarkable similarity to Saint Mark in the Capella del Santissimo Sacramento in the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, Brescia, while the figure of Saint Elizabeth recalls a veiled lady in conversation with another figure in Moretto's celebrated altarpiece depicting the Feast in the house of Simon, an original commission for the Convent of San Giacomo Maggiore in Venice, now in the Museo Diocesano (see P.V. Begni Redona, pp. 395-399, no. 95).