Circle of Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian (c.1490-1576)

Portrait of Luigi Crasso, half-length, in a black fur-lined coat, holding a pair of spectacles, at a parapet

細節

Circle of Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian (c.1490-1576)
Portrait of Luigi Crasso, half-length, in a black fur-lined coat, holding a pair of spectacles, at a parapet
inscribed 'V.V' (on the parapet) and inscribed (?) and dated (?) 'L.GRASSVS·D·/MDVIII' (upper left)
oil on canvas
32¼ x 26½in. (81.9 x 67.3cm.)

來源

Nicolo Crasso, Venice, by 1626 (see Literature below).
Rothschild Collection, London, by 1969.
Jack Billemeir, Westbrook House, Elstead, Surrey; sale, Sotheby's, on the premises, 20 Sept. 1995, lot 457, as Venetian School, early 16th Century.

出版

Inventario di casa Crasso, 1626, which lists 'un Ritratto del quondam Eccellentissimo Ser Alvise Crasso' (see S. Savini Branca, Il collezionismo veneziano nel'600, Florence, 1965, pp. 116 and 209).
C. Ridolfi, Le Maraviglie dell'Arte, Venice, 1648, as Giorgione ('il ritratto di Luigi Crasso celebre Filosofo Auo suo posto à sedere con occhiali in mano'), ed. D. von Hadeln, Berlin, 1914, I, p. 102.
E.A. Cicogna, Delle inscrizioni veneziane, IV, Venice, 1834, no. 163, as of Niccola Crasso by Giorgione.
J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in North Italy, ed. T. Borenius, London, 1912, III, p. 40, as Giorgione.
G.M. Richter, The Evolution of Giorgione, in G. de Batz, Giorgione and his Circle, Baltimore, 1942, pp. 11-12, as Giorgione and Titian. T. Pignatti, Giorgione, Milan, 1955, p. 130, as Attributed to Giorgione.
T. Pignatti, Giorgone, Venice, 1969, p. 123, no. A25, fig. 208, as possibly by Giovanni Cariani.
H.E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, II, The Portraits, London, 1971, p. 11, under note 56.
R. Pallucchini and F. Rossi, Giovanni Cariani, Cinisello Balsamo, 1983, p. 356, no. V50, under rejected attributions.

拍品專文

Luigi (Alvise in Venetian dialect) Crasso, who came from a legal background, was a juror and possibly also a member of the Council of Ten. His descendant, Niccolo Crasso, whom Ridolfi knew, was an active collector of paintings.
Wethey, loc. cit., discusses the significance of the initials 'V.V' on various portraits connected with Venice. One theory is that the initials stand for 'VECELLIUS VENETUS', but, as Wethey explains, a combination of initials appear on a diverse selection of apparently unrelated pictures which cannot be associated with a single artist, collector or family, other than a connection to Venice, so no conclusive theory can be supported.