Annibale Carracci

Possibly Queen Christina of Sweden, Rome, until 1689;
Possibly Cardinal Decio Azzolino, Rome, 1689;
Possibly Marchese Pompeo Azzolino, Rome, 1689-96;
Possibly Prince Livio Odescalchi, Rome, 1696 – 1713;
Possibly Prince Baldassarre Odescalchi-Erba, Rome, 1713-21;
Philippe Duc d'Orleans, Palais Royal, Paris, until his death in 1723, thence by descent;
Louis Philippe Joseph Duc d'Orléans, Paris, from whom acquired in 1792 together with the bulk of the Italian and French paintings of the collection by;
Viscomte Edouard de Walckiers, Brussels, by whom sold to his cousin;
François de Laborde de Méréville, Paris 1792, and then London 1793-98;
with Jeremiah Harman, London, 1798;
A Syndicate, comprising the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, his nephew Lord Gower and Lord Carlisle, London; exhibited for sale by Bryan at the Lyceum, Strand, London (1798-99);
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, who took sole ownership in 1799, thence by descent to his nephew;
George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2^nd Marquess of Stafford, later 1^st Duke of Sutherland, thence by descent to;
Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere, thence by descent to
John Sutherland Egerton, 5th Earl of Ellesmere, later 6^th Duke of Sutherland;
His sale, Christie's London, 18 October, 1946, lot 64; bought by "Madeira"
with Wetzler, Madeira, 1946;
Eduardo Paquete, Funchal, Madeira;
with Piero Corsini, New York, by 1988, from whom acquired by the present owner.

London, Bryan's Gallery, Pall Mall and Lyceum, the Strand, The Orleans' Italian Pictures, December 1798-1799, cat. no. 126.;
New York, Piero Corsini Inc., Important old master paintings: discoveries ... in una nuova luce,  20 April - 20 May, 1988, catalogue by R. B. Simon;
Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, Annibale Carracci, 22 September 2006 - 7 January 2007, Continued to Rome, Chiostro del Bramante, 23 January - 6 May 2007, cat. no. III.7, entry by Daniele Benati, reproduced.

L.F. Dubois de Saint-Gelais, Description des tableaux du Palais Royal, Paris 1727, pp. 31-2;
J. Couché, Galerie du Palais Royal, Paris 1786, vol. I, no. 16, with engraving by Bovinet, reproduced, fig. 5;
A catalogue of the Orleans' Italian pictures, which will be exhibited for sale by private contract, On Wednesday, the 26th of December, 1798, and following days, London 1798, cat no. 126.;
W. Y. Ottley and P. W. Tomkins, Engravings of the Most Noble the Marquis of Stafford's Collection of Pictures at London..., London 1818, vol. II, p. 56, no. 47, Class II, with engraving dated 1815 by C. Heath;
W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting, London 1824, vol. I, p. 81;
A. Jameson, Companion to the most celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London, London 1884, p. 100, no. 21;
Catalogue of the Bridgewater Collection of Pictures Belonging to the Earl of Ellesmere at Bridgewater House, Cleveland Square, St. James's, London 1851, no. 245;
G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, London 1854, vol. II, p. 488, no. 4;
C. Stryienski, La Galerie du Regent, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, Paris 1913, p. 169, no. 240;
K.T. Parker, Catalogue of the Collection of Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum, vol. II, Italian Schools, Oxford 1956, p. 80;
D. Posner, Annibale Carracci: A Study in the Reform of Italian Painting Around 1590, London 1971, vol. II, p. 10, no. 18, reproduced, plate 18 (as uncertain, as only based on photographs);
D. S. Pepper, "I limiti del Positivismo: L'Annibale Carracci di Donald Posner," in Arte illustrata, no. 49, June 1972, p. 267 (as uncertain, following Posner);
R.W. Bissell, review of D. Posner, in Art Bulletin, vol. LVI, no. 1, March 1974, p. 130 (as uncertain, following Posner);
G. Malafarina, L'Opera completa di Annibale Carracci, Milan 1976, p. 92, no. 19, illustrated (as uncertain, following Posner);
R.B. Simon, Important Old Master Paintings. Discoveries...in una nuova luce..., New York 1988, pp. 41-44, no. 7;
D. Benati and E. Riccòmini, Annibale Carracci, exhibition catalogue, Rome 2006-7, pp. 146-7, cat. no III.7, reproduced in color, p. 147.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This picture is painted on fine linen which has been mounted onto a cradled panel and has been quite recently restored. The varnish is a little soft and the paint layer may be slightly dirty, but the picture could be hung as is. More definition will be acquired if the picture were to be cleaned and perhaps some of the slight staining in the sky, particularly, were to be reduced with fine retouches. The paint layer is noticeably unabraded in the figure. In many other areas some of the pigments may have discolored slightly. There is a warm cast to the palette now but there is a conspicuous lack of retouches in the figure and in the landscape, and only a very thin restored break in the canvas to the left of Christ's feet are visible under ultraviolet light. Retouches are visible under ultraviolet light across the top edge above the cross itself and in a few spots in the sky on either side of the figure. Overall, the condition of the paint is very robust. A slight reexamination of the conservation may clarify the sky, particularly.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This subtly beautiful and moving painting is an early work of Annibale, painted in the mid 1580s.  It echoes— but must date slightly later than— one of the young artist's most impressive works: the Crucifixion with Mourners and Saints Bernardino, Francis and Petronius, painted circa 1583 for the church of San Nicolò di strada San Felice (and now in the church of Santa Maria della Carità, Bologna).  That altarpiece retains echoes of the mannerist painters of the Bolognese school, particularly Passerotti.  The present Crucifixion, however, is much more naturalistically conceived. 

The picture has a distinguished history (see provenance and note below), but was unavailable to modern scholars from its sale in the 1940s until it reappeared in the late 1980s.  Posner knew the picture only in photographs, attributed it with caution to Carracci, but dated it to circa 1584/5, comparing it stylistically to the famous Allegory in the Royal Collection, Hampton Court.  The picture had at some point in the 19^th Century been transferred from panel to canvas, but has since been restored, and has again been taken back to panel.¹  Since this restoration, it has become available for study and scholars have accepted it as autograph.  In fact, it was included in the recent monographic show on the work of Annibale Carracci, held in Bologna and Rome (see exhibited).  In his catalogue of the exhibition, Daniele Benati largely concurred with Posner's chronology, and dated it to about 1584, noting further affinities with a Saint Francis receiving the Stigmata, particularly in the treatment of the landscape (private collection, Cento).  If indeed the picture is this early, the development of the young painter in a matter of a few years was considerable, and this Crucifixion clearly demonstrates his developing interest in a much more refined and classicizing pictorial vocabulary.

The first secure reference to the picture was when it was in the collection of Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, then Regent of France, who amassed in the Palais Royal one of the greatest collections of paintings every assembled, particularly of the Italian schools.  It was described there by Louis-François Dubois de Saint-Gelais, a writer, historian and secretary to the Royal Academy (see literature).²

The Orléans collection was open to the polite public, and remained there until it was inherited by his great-grandson, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, when the Crucifixion was engraved in 1786 as part of a new catalogue of the collection by Edme Bovinet.  Historians of the Orléans collection have stated that the picture was acquired, as with many of the most important works in the collection, from the Odescalchi family in Rome, where the group of masterpieces had passed down from the famous gallery of Queen Christina of Sweden, through her favorite, Cardinal Decio Azzolino (see provenance).  This line of ownership is certainly not only possible, but likely given the history of other pictures belonging to the Orléans gallery; however, a painting of this description by Carracci does not appear in the inventories of either Christina, or in the recently published inventories of Cardinal Azzolino.³

The Orléans collection was eventually famously broken up, and sections sold to different buyers.  The Italian paintings were transported to England (through a number of intermediaries) and eventually purchased by a syndicate comprising the Duke of Bridgewater, and Lords Gower and Carlisle.  The pictures were then displayed for sale in London galleries, and admission was charged.  Those paintings that were not sold were then divided up by the members of the group, with the Duke of Bridgewater taking possession of the Crucifixion.  The painting then passed to his nephew, Lord Gower, later the Marquis of Stafford, and Duke of Sutherland.  Stafford, combining his collection with that of his uncle, had one of the best galleries in Europe, which he partially opened to the public.  The painting descended in the family, remaining in the so-called Bridgewater/Sutherland collection until sold in 1946. 

This painting will be included in the forthcoming monograph on Annibale Carracci by Daniele Benati

1.   While William Ottley and P. W. Tomkins stated that the picture was on canvas in their catalogue of the Stafford collection (1818), Mrs. Jameson in her description of the painting, published in 1844, stated that the picture was on panel.  The picture was re-restored in the 1980s by Marco Grassi in New York.
2.Un Crucifix. Peint sur bois, haut de deux pieds sept pouces, large d'un pied trois pouces. Figure de vingt pouces. Notre Seigneur est sur la croix, & vient d'être percé au côté. Le fond du Tableau est un Paisage. Tout sur le devant à gauche on voit une Tête demort avec des os.
3. C. Stryienski (see literature) connected the present painting with a picture listed in Christina's inventories, described as "un Volto inarrivabile di belezza [sic] di un Christo coronato di spine, con lagrime".  That description, however, suggests a depiction of the "Santo Volto", or a head of Christ, rather than a Crucifixion, and in fact such a painting is described in Azzolino's inventories, for which see E. Borsellino, La collezione d'arte del cardinale Decio Azzolino, Rome 2000.