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Lot Essay
This watercolor on vellum is after Cristofano Allori's (1577-1621) masterpiece Judith with the head of Holofernes. Allori's prime version of the painting was executed circa 1610-12 (Fig. 1). After the painter's death in 1621 it entered the collection of the Medici family and in 1626 Grand Duke Ferdinand II gave the painting to Cardinal Carlo de Medici in whose collection it remained until his death in 1666 when it entered the collection of the Pitti Palace where it is today. As one of the greatest paintings by a 17th century Florentine artist, it was widely copied, and Allori himself made four other versions of the composition, such was the demand for it (M. Chappell, Cristofano Allori, exh. cat., Florence, 1984, no. 25). Gandolfi would have had an opportunity to see the prime version firsthand when he lived in Paris as the painting was exhibited there from 1799 until 1815 when it was part of the Musée Napoléon at the Louvre.
In addition to this striking drawing on vellum, Mauro also created two prints after Allori's masterpiece. The first one was published in Paris in 1803 as part of Robillard Péronville's 4 volume Musée français ou collection complète des tableaux, statues et bas-reliefs qui composent la collection nationale. This publication catalogued the art and antiquities acquired by Napoleon for the French state as a result of his military victories in North Africa and Europe. Allori's painting entered the French national collection as a spoil of war and it seems that this is the version upon which Mauro based his two prints and the present drawing as he spent four years in the French capital (1801-05) and was an ardent supporter of the revolution and Napoleon. In addition, the Pitti Palace/Musée Napoléon painting is the only version where the scarf wrapped around Judith's waist is a solid color, and not striped as it is in all four other paintings. Mauro's drawing as well includes an unpatterned scarf around the waist.
After his return from Paris, Gandolfi made another engraving of Allori's painting which was now back on the Italian peninsula, returned like many of the art acquisitions that had been made as a result of Napoleon's military conquests. This print was for an 1817 publication by Luigi Bardi of Florence (Fig. 2). The present drawing and both the 1803 and 1817 prints are in the same direction as the painting. The dimensions of the 1803 print are nearly identical with that of the present lot (41 x 33.2 cm.), while the 1817 print is larger (50.5 x 37.2 cm.). Interestingly, Gozzi considers the present drawing preparatory for the 1817 impression (Gozzi, op. cit., under no. 35).
It seems more likely however, that this drawing was not preparatory for either print, but was created along with other works on vellum around the same time as Gandolfi's 1819 exhibition at the Accademia di Brera entitled Sogno Lieto. See, for example, Sogno Lieto and Commiato, both executed on vellum (Bagni, op. cit., p. 499, no. 470; p. 505, no. 476). In addition, vellum would not have been conducive to the transfer process, and the delicate coloring which characterizes this group would have been superfluous if these works were for engravings. Of these works on vellum, only Sogno Lieto is recorded as having been exhibited at the Brera, while the 1817 Bardi engraving of Judith with the head of Holofernes was included in the exhibition, not the present watercolor.
Like Allori who responded to the success of his original painting by making several versions of it, Gandolfi seems to have created multiple versions of this composition in two different media across two decades in response to the enduring popularity of Allori's masterpiece.
In addition to this striking drawing on vellum, Mauro also created two prints after Allori's masterpiece. The first one was published in Paris in 1803 as part of Robillard Péronville's 4 volume Musée français ou collection complète des tableaux, statues et bas-reliefs qui composent la collection nationale. This publication catalogued the art and antiquities acquired by Napoleon for the French state as a result of his military victories in North Africa and Europe. Allori's painting entered the French national collection as a spoil of war and it seems that this is the version upon which Mauro based his two prints and the present drawing as he spent four years in the French capital (1801-05) and was an ardent supporter of the revolution and Napoleon. In addition, the Pitti Palace/Musée Napoléon painting is the only version where the scarf wrapped around Judith's waist is a solid color, and not striped as it is in all four other paintings. Mauro's drawing as well includes an unpatterned scarf around the waist.
After his return from Paris, Gandolfi made another engraving of Allori's painting which was now back on the Italian peninsula, returned like many of the art acquisitions that had been made as a result of Napoleon's military conquests. This print was for an 1817 publication by Luigi Bardi of Florence (Fig. 2). The present drawing and both the 1803 and 1817 prints are in the same direction as the painting. The dimensions of the 1803 print are nearly identical with that of the present lot (41 x 33.2 cm.), while the 1817 print is larger (50.5 x 37.2 cm.). Interestingly, Gozzi considers the present drawing preparatory for the 1817 impression (Gozzi, op. cit., under no. 35).
It seems more likely however, that this drawing was not preparatory for either print, but was created along with other works on vellum around the same time as Gandolfi's 1819 exhibition at the Accademia di Brera entitled Sogno Lieto. See, for example, Sogno Lieto and Commiato, both executed on vellum (Bagni, op. cit., p. 499, no. 470; p. 505, no. 476). In addition, vellum would not have been conducive to the transfer process, and the delicate coloring which characterizes this group would have been superfluous if these works were for engravings. Of these works on vellum, only Sogno Lieto is recorded as having been exhibited at the Brera, while the 1817 Bardi engraving of Judith with the head of Holofernes was included in the exhibition, not the present watercolor.
Like Allori who responded to the success of his original painting by making several versions of it, Gandolfi seems to have created multiple versions of this composition in two different media across two decades in response to the enduring popularity of Allori's masterpiece.