The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

Details

FOLLOWER OF MICHELANGELO DA MERISI, CALLED IL CARAVAGGIO
Caravaggio
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
oil on canvas
40 7/8 x 55 in. (103.8 x 139.7 cm.)

Provenance

(Probably) Acquired in Italy in circa 1850 by the great-grandfather of the following,
Anonymous sale [The Property of a Nobleman]; Christie's, London, 11 December 1987, lot 132, as after Caravaggio, when acquired by the present owner.

Literature

N. Ivanoff, A proposito dell'Incredulita di San Tommaso del Caravaggio, Arte Lombarda, 3737, anno. 17, 1972, pp. 71-2 and illustrated pp. 106-9, figs. 3-9, as Caravaggio(?).
A.E.Pérez Sánchez, Caravaggio y el naturalismo español, exhibition catalogue, Seville, 1973, under no. 6.
A. Moir, Caravaggio and his copyists, New York, 1976, p. 90, no. 18s.
M. Cinotti, 'Michelangelo Merisi detto il Caravaggio, Tutte le opere', in I pittori bergamaschi dal XIII a XIX secolo: Il Seicento, Bergamo, 1983, p. 490.
M. Marini, 'Caravaggio e i suoi 'doppi'. Il problema della possibili collaborazioni', Artibus Et Historiae, no. 8, 1983, pp. 136 and 146, and illustrated, p. 134, fig. 30, and p. 138, figs. 39 and 40, as 'Caravaggio and Collaborator'.
J.T. Spike, Caravaggio, New York and London, 2001, p. 160, no. 12.
J.T. Spike, Caravaggio, New York and London, 2010, second revised edition, p. 210, no. 14.
B. Savina, Caravaggio tra originali e copie, Collezionismo e mercato dell'arte a Roma nel primo Seicento, Foligno, 2013, p. 126, VII, n. 3, as a seventeenth century copy after Caravaggio.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Csongor Kis AVP, Specialist

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

ckis@christies.com +1 212 636 2220

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

This picture is after Caravaggio's Incredulity of Saint Thomas (Potsdam, Sanssouci), executed in 1602 for the Roman banker Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564-1637), whose celebrated collection included no fewer than fifteen works by the artist. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Caravaggio's picture was one of over 160 from the Giustiniani collection acquired by the King of Prussia and taken to Charlottenburg Palace before being moved to the Picture Gallery in Potsdam, where it remains today. Due to the popularity of this composition, attested to by the remarkable number of surviving old copies, it would seem likely that the present picture dates to the seventeenth century.

More from A Park Avenue Collection

View All