Christ descending into Limbo

Details

Attributed to Francesco de’ Rossi, il Salviati (Florence 1510-1563 Rome)
Christ descending into Limbo
with inscription ‘Mecherino da Siena’ (verso)
red chalk (possibly later), pen and brown ink, brown wash heightened with white, on light brown paper
3 5/8 x 4 7/8 in. (9.1 x 12.5 cm)

Provenance

Giovanni Morelli (1816-1891), Milan (according to the 1953 Stuker catalogue).
with Dr Karl Grünwald (1887-1964), Zurich (according to the Landolt typescript catalogue).
Anonymous sale; Galerie Jürg Stuker, Bern, 17-26 November 1953, lot 194 (as Domenico Beccafumi), where acquired by Robert Landolt.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU or, if the UK has withdrawn from the EU without an agreed transition deal, from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime.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.

Brought to you by

Stijn Alsteens

salsteens@christies.com +33 1 40 76 83 59

Lot Essay

Despite its small size, this drawing appears to be a brilliant demonstration of Salviati’s ability to create compositions with figures in complex, expressive poses. The drawing’s style and technique can be well compared to such larger sheets as the Resurrection of Christ at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (inv. 2006.11.21; see Catherine Monbeig Goguel in Francesco Salviati ou la Bella Maniera, exib. cat., Rome, Villa Medici, and Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1998, no. 101, ill.); note, for instance, the identical feet of Christ in both sheets.

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