Giovanni Battista Beinaschi (Fossano 1636-1688 Naples)

The Madonna in Glory (recto); Studies of heads and drapery (verso)

Details

Giovanni Battista Beinaschi (Fossano 1636-1688 Naples)
The Madonna in Glory (recto); Studies of heads and drapery (verso)
brush and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white (recto, an inscribed oval), watermark IHS in a circle surmounted by a cross
19 x 14 7/8 in. (48.3 x 37.6 cm)

Provenance

William Young Ottley, London (1771-1836), his mount and with his attribution 'Cav. Gio. Lanfranco, Pittore Parmese.'; T. Philipe, London, 6-23 June 1814, lot 712 'LANFRANCHI (Cav. Giovanni), One–a Madonna, with angels, in the sky and saints beneath–bistre–a capital ordonnance' (£1.1s).
'Pseudo-Crozat' (L. 474, twice).
Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (1769-1830) (L. 2445).
M.H. Bloxam, by whom given to Rugby School Art Museum; with his inscription and attribution 'Rugby School Art Museum/ e dono Matt: H: Bloxam/ a.d. 1581-1647/ Lawrence Collection' (on the mount).

Literature

Anne Popham, typescript catalogue, no. 15, as Giovanni Lanfranco.

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Lot Essay

Traditionally attributed to Giovanni Lanfranco, this impressively large sheet was first given to Beinaschi by Nicholas Turner. More recently, Francesco Grisolia identified it as a preparatory study for the Virgin and Child in Glory with Saints, painted on the ceiling of Santa Maria del Rifugio, Naples. Heavily restored in recent times, this ceiling was completed by September 1665, as confirmed by records of payment recently published by Simona Carotenuto ('Una precisazione sul primo soggiorno napoletano del Beinaschi', Cinquanta racconti per i dieci anni, Catanzaro, 2013, pp. 311-16). The sheet is a new addition to Beinaschi's corpus of drawings dating to the beginning of his Neapolitan stay (he arrived there in 1663), and an eloquent example of his expressive brush technique, further attested by a similar ceiling design in the Albertina (inv. 1026).

We are grateful to Francesco Grisolia for his assistance in cataloguing this drawing.

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