Christ and the Centurion

Details

Francesco Guardi (Venice 1712-1793)
Christ and the Centurion
red chalk, pen and brown ink (ink gall loses), watermark encircled device, the upper left corner made up
19 5/8 x 14½ in. (497 x 371 mm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Weinmüller, Munich, 14 October 1938, lot 344.
With Seiferheld & Co., New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester Francis Avnet.

Literature

H. Leporini, 'Die Versteigerung von Handzeichnungen bei A. Weinmüller, Munich', Pantheon, October 1938, p. 330.
T. Pignatti, Studi dell'Arte, 1971, pp. 321-323, fig. 1.
A. Morassi, Guardi, I Disegni, Venice, 1973 (reprinted 1984), no. 124, fig. 126.

Exhibited

New York, American Federation of Arts, and elsewhere, Old Master Drawings from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Francis Avnet, 1968, no. 27.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

James Byam Shaw described the present drawing as 'one of the largest and most important of Guardi's adaptions' (New York, op. cit., under no. 27). The composition is inspired by Veronese's painting known in versions in Kansas City, the Prado, Madrid, and in Dresden. Guardi may have seen the Dresden version, which was in the Casa Grimandi de'Servi, Venice, until 1748, or he may have taken the composition from P.A. Killian's engraving of 1758. This last led James Byam Shaw to date the present drawing to circa 1758, while Antonio Morassi suggested a date of circa 1760-70 (A. Morassi, op. cit., p. 101).

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