The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

Details

UBALDO GANDOLFI (SAN MATTEO DELLA DECIMA 1728-1781 RAVENNA)
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
graphite, pen and brown ink, brown wash, pen and brown ink framing lines
27.8 cm x 19.5 cm (11 x 7 3/4 in.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, London, 8 July 1998, lot 49; where acquired by the present owners.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The drawing can be connected to a large altarpiece in the church of San Michele in Vercelli, executed by Ubaldo Gandolfi around 1776 for the Compagnia di San Giovanni Decollato (see M. Dell’Omo, ‘La cultura figurativa a Vercelli e nel Vercellese nel Settecento: nuove indagini’, Arti figurative a Biella e a Vercelli. Il Seicento e il Settecento, Vigliano Biellese, 2004, p. 158, n. 65). A preparatory oil sketch for the painting is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 2014.566) and two other drawn versions of the composition are known: a sheet in Palazzo Rosso in Genoa (inv. 2326; see P. Bagni, I Gandolfi. Affreschi dipinti bozzetti disegni, Bologna, 1992, no. 708, ill.) and a second one currently on the art market (with Colnaghi, London, 2023).

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