Elijah ascends to heaven in a chariot of fire and drops his cloak to Elisha

Details

GIOVANNI BATTISTA PITTONI (VENICE 1687-1767)
Elijah ascends to heaven in a chariot of fire and drops his cloak to Elisha
with inscription 'Carlo Maratti/ very fine' (lower left)
black chalk, red wash, heightened with white
17 ¾ x 27 ½ in. (45 x 59.9 cm)

Provenance

Private collection, England (according to the inscription at lower left).
with Colnaghi, London, 1972 (as Francesco Fontebasso).

Literature

F. Zava Boccazzi, 'Per il catalogo di Giambattista Pittoni: proposte e inediti', Arte Veneta, XXVIII, 1974, p. 199, ill.
F. Zava Boccazzi, Pittoni. L'opera completa, Venice, 1979, no. D53, ill.
Venise, l'art de la Serenissima. Dessins des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, exhib. cat., Montpellier, musée Fabre, 2006-2007, p. 168, under no. 73 (catalogue entry by Valentine Toutain-Quittelier).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Giada Damen, Ph.D. AVP, Specialist, Head of Sale

gdamen@christies.com +1 212 641 7532

Lot Essay

The drawing documents a lost fresco decoration probably for a church ceiling by Giovanni Battista Pittoni. The composition was inspired by Rubens's ceiling decoration for the Jesuit church in Antwerp, destroyed by fire in 1718, but documented through prints that Pittoni could have known (Zava, op. cit., 1979, pp. 214-215). Two other versions of this composition are known: a red chalk drawing in the Louvre (inv. INV 5473 recto; see Venise, l'art de la Serenissima, op. cit., no. 73 ) and an anonymous copy at the Museo Civico, Bassano (Zava, op. cit., p. 214).

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