Corrado Giaquinto (Molfetta 1703-1766 Naples)

Saint Nicholas of Bari miraculously saving the victims of a shipwreck

Details

Corrado Giaquinto (Molfetta 1703-1766 Naples)
Saint Nicholas of Bari miraculously saving the victims of a shipwreck
oil on canvas
28¾ x 23¾ in. (73 x 60.5 cm.)
Sold with a drawing by Carlo Giuseppe Ratti (Savona 1737-1795 Genoa) of the related altarpiece, black chalk and grey wash, 567 x 434 mm. (as illustrated above)
two (2) (2)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 11 June 1981, lot 33.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 10 December 1993, lot 94 (£56,500=$84,185).

Literature

P. Rosenberg and A. Brejon de Lavergnée, 'Corrado Giaquinto et la France', in Corrado Giaquinto (1703-1766). Atti del II Convegno Internazionale di Studi, ed. P. Amato, Molfetta, 1985, p. 79.
M. Boskovits, The Martello Collection, Florence, 1985, pp. 160-1, no. 49, illustrated.
M. G. di Capua, in the exhibition catalogue, Giaquinto. Capolavori dalle Corti in Europa, Castello Svevo, Bari, April-June 1993, p. 162.

Sale room notice

Dr. David Ekserdjian has suggested that the subject of the present painting may instead be Abbot Helsinus saved from a Shipwreck. This miracle is related in additions to The Golden Legend in relation to the origin of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Helsinus, Bishop of Romsey, was returning from a mission in Denmark when his vessel was menaced by a violent storm. The crew prayed to the Virgin who sent an angel, dressed in Bishop's robes to aid them. Standing on the water, the angel conversed with Helsinus, who vowed to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on the 8 December in return for deliverance from the storm. This relatively rare subject can also be seen in a 14th Century Dalmation School Altarpiece of the Virgin Mary in the National Gallery, London (inv. no. 4250).

Lot Essay

The present work is a modello for Giaquinto's altarpiece in the transept of the church of S. Nicola dei Lorenesi, Rome, commissioned by its rector, Domenico Fabri in 1746. This altarpiece is now lost, having been replaced in 1827 by a copy, executed by Ghilardi (now also lost). The appearance of the altarpiece is known only from a drawing by Carlo Giuseppe Ratti (illustrated above), which is sold with this lot. The drawing, in black chalk and grey wash, measures 567 x 434 mm. and is signed, inscribed and dated on the verso: 'Quadro di Corrado Giaquinto posto nella chiesa di S. Nicolò de Lorensi...copiato da me Giuseppe Ratti Genovese in Roma l'anno 1759'. The drawing reveals numerous differences between the present work and the lost altarpiece. The definitive modello, less freely painted and closer to the finished commission is in the Pinacoteca Provinciale, Bari (di Capua, op. cit., pp. 162-3, no. 23, illustrated in color and with a detail on the cover).

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