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Lot Essay
This striking sequence of lots (141-144) are painted on alabaster supports, possibly alabastro di Busca, from Cuneo, Piedmont (examples of which can be found in the Faustino Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, University of Oxford, nos. 359 & 360).
Virtually nothing is known of their history, and we may only hypothesise as to their original function and display. They may have formed part of a decorative scheme in a private home or in a small chapel. However, paintings on stone were also framed and hung as wall paintings, as well as set into cabinets and other furniture. Based on stylistic comparison, lots 141-143 appear to be by a single hand, and the fourth, lot 144 (The Divine Shepherd) by another; it may have been commissioned to replace a panel that had broken.
The production of paintings on alabaster and other stone supports flourished in the late sixteenth century, most notably in Florence and Rome; a reference to the Venetian Sebastiano del Piombo painting on stone is recorded as early as 1530. Earlier examples are painted on marble and slate, but as trade routes developed, more types of stone became available, including alabaster, lapis lazuli, onyx, jasper, agate, and amethyst. Painters used these supports to attain a high level of finish, and capitalised on the natural contours and colours offered by the stone to guide and enhance their compositions, for example in the profiles of the landscapes in the present works and in the imitation wooden planks on the pyre in lot 143. Paintings on stone were clearly prized, and examples are recorded in the inventories of the most distinguished collecting dynasties across western Europe, including the Medici, Colonna and Savoy families.
A seminal exhibition on this subject was held at the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2022 (Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 1530-1800, 20 February-15 May 2022, curated by Judith W. Mann).
Virtually nothing is known of their history, and we may only hypothesise as to their original function and display. They may have formed part of a decorative scheme in a private home or in a small chapel. However, paintings on stone were also framed and hung as wall paintings, as well as set into cabinets and other furniture. Based on stylistic comparison, lots 141-143 appear to be by a single hand, and the fourth, lot 144 (The Divine Shepherd) by another; it may have been commissioned to replace a panel that had broken.
The production of paintings on alabaster and other stone supports flourished in the late sixteenth century, most notably in Florence and Rome; a reference to the Venetian Sebastiano del Piombo painting on stone is recorded as early as 1530. Earlier examples are painted on marble and slate, but as trade routes developed, more types of stone became available, including alabaster, lapis lazuli, onyx, jasper, agate, and amethyst. Painters used these supports to attain a high level of finish, and capitalised on the natural contours and colours offered by the stone to guide and enhance their compositions, for example in the profiles of the landscapes in the present works and in the imitation wooden planks on the pyre in lot 143. Paintings on stone were clearly prized, and examples are recorded in the inventories of the most distinguished collecting dynasties across western Europe, including the Medici, Colonna and Savoy families.
A seminal exhibition on this subject was held at the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2022 (Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 1530-1800, 20 February-15 May 2022, curated by Judith W. Mann).