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THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR
Follower of Guido Reni
The Adolescence of the Virgin
Details
Follower of Guido Reni
The Adolescence of the Virgin
oil on canvas
60½ x 84¼ in. (153.7 x 214 cm.)
The Adolescence of the Virgin
oil on canvas
60½ x 84¼ in. (153.7 x 214 cm.)
Provenance
Royal Mooers, Naples, Illinois, 1858, as 'Dorcas and her Maids by Elisabetta Sirani'.
Joshua Moore, Jacksonville, Illinois, 1859, and by descent in the family to the present owners as 'Dorcas and her Maids by Elisabetta Sirani'.
Joshua Moore, Jacksonville, Illinois, 1859, and by descent in the family to the present owners as 'Dorcas and her Maids by Elisabetta Sirani'.
Literature
H. Tuckerman, 'Art in America', in Contemporary Art Journal, I, December 1858, no. 13, pp. 56 and 95, as 'Dorcas and her Maids by Elisabetta Sirani'.
Sale room notice
We are grateful to Adelina Modesti who, on the basis of a transparency (written communication, 22 March 2006), suggests that the present painting is an autograph work by Elisabetta Sirani, with the assistance of her father Giovanni Andrea Sirani.
Ms. Modesti points out that this composition derives from Guido Reni's, Madonna del Cucito (Hermitage, St. Petersburg), a work that Carlo Cesare Malvasia claims, in his unpublished notes (see A. Arfelli, ed. Carlo Cesare Malvasia, Vita dei pittori bolognesi, appunti inediti, Bologna, 1961), was completed by Giovanni Andrea Sirani after Reni's death (see A. Modesti, Elisabetta Sirani: una virtuosa del Seicento bolognese, Bologna, 2004, pp. 163 and 213, notes 21 and 24; D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni. L'Opera Completa, Novara, 1988, Appendix II, A2, pp. 344 - 45). It would therefore have been amongst the many works by Reni in the Sirani studio that the young Elisabetta must have studied in her formative years.
Modesti dates the painting to circa 1654 - 55, when Elisabetta was only 17 years old, and notes the naturalistic modelling of the head of the Virgin and the figure on the standing on the left. She also suggests that the figure of the Virgin is likely a self-portrait of the artist; it was to become Sirani's custom to include her own image in the heroines she portrayed.
The present painting is to be included in the catalogue raisonne on Elisabetta Sirani currently in preparation by Adelina Modesti.
Ms. Modesti points out that this composition derives from Guido Reni's, Madonna del Cucito (Hermitage, St. Petersburg), a work that Carlo Cesare Malvasia claims, in his unpublished notes (see A. Arfelli, ed. Carlo Cesare Malvasia, Vita dei pittori bolognesi, appunti inediti, Bologna, 1961), was completed by Giovanni Andrea Sirani after Reni's death (see A. Modesti, Elisabetta Sirani: una virtuosa del Seicento bolognese, Bologna, 2004, pp. 163 and 213, notes 21 and 24; D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni. L'Opera Completa, Novara, 1988, Appendix II, A2, pp. 344 - 45). It would therefore have been amongst the many works by Reni in the Sirani studio that the young Elisabetta must have studied in her formative years.
Modesti dates the painting to circa 1654 - 55, when Elisabetta was only 17 years old, and notes the naturalistic modelling of the head of the Virgin and the figure on the standing on the left. She also suggests that the figure of the Virgin is likely a self-portrait of the artist; it was to become Sirani's custom to include her own image in the heroines she portrayed.
The present painting is to be included in the catalogue raisonne on Elisabetta Sirani currently in preparation by Adelina Modesti.