Giulio Cesare Procaccini

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, January 26, 2006, lot 45.

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 very large piece of slate has been restored fairly recently and, if the varnish is freshened slightly, should be hung as is. The reverse shows three horizontal joins or glued sections. The upper left corner has been reattached, or may originally have been attached. The weight and scale of this piece makes it immediately unique. There is a crack in the upper right, above the head of the putti. Another crack in the upper left corner enters the head of the child furthest to the left, but does not interfere with his face or back. The other joins on the reverse do not manifest themselves on the surface. The painting is in beautiful condition despite these slight structural issues. The perimeter of the hair of the child in the upper right has been strengthened, as have some of the curls of hair on the maiden. There is a vertical restoration in her left bicep as well. In the remainder of her body the only restoration is in her right lower calf. In the two children on the left side, the hair has been strengthened and the top of the back of the child furthest to the right has also been slightly retouched. Above and around the figures the background is very dull and has been left unpainted and unvarnished. Under ultraviolet light it shows very darkly and it is possible that this whole area has been glazed in order to diminish it in some way. It may be that a varnish over this portion of the picture would improve the image. Since the figures are so beautifully preserved, some thought should be given to this background and perhaps disguising the crack in the upper left background slightly more. Given the problems that these paintings on slate often have, the condition of this example is very impressive.
"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."

The attribution of this painting to Giulio Cesare Procaccini has been endorsed by Hugh Brigstocke after seeing the work first hand.  Hugh Brigstocke has speculated that the two putti might perhaps be by Francesco Cairo at the very outset of his career when he is known to have been influenced by Giulio Ceesare Procaccini, although we have no comparative evidence of Cairo's style at the very early date.  Others have argued for an attribution to Carlo Antonio Procaccini, Giulio Cesare's older brother (who outlived him by five years), or to Ercole Procaccini the Younger (1605-75/80), nephew to both of them.

The scene shows Venus together with three cupids or putti, one of them tenderly holding her head and caressing her, the others stringing a bow at her feet. Almost nude and reclining diagonally across the whole picture space, Venus displays herself to the viewer. The overt sensuality of her pose and the erotic subject-matter has much in common with Procaccini's signed painting of Venus and Amor where the theme is treated with a similar playfulness (formerly with Didier Aaron, 1984; see H. Brigstocke, Procaccini in America, exhibition catalogue, New York, Hall & Knight Ltd., 2002, pp. 110-114, cat. no. 13, reproduced in color). That painting has been dated to Procaccini's last years (circa 1620-25), and the fact that it is a collaborative work (the flowers have been plausibly attributed to Carlo Antonio Procaccini) and that it is painted on panel (whose smooth surface is not dissimilar to that of slate) mean that it provides a particularly interesting comparison for the present picture. The pinkish hues on Venus' knee and cheeks, as well as the detailed tassles of the cushion on which she leans, are painted in a similar technique in both pictures. In Venus and Amor cupids are shown cavorting around a naked Venus: her pose recalls Giambologna's design of a Crouching Venus, drawn and adapted by Procaccini in a sheet at the Ambrosiana, Milan (see Brigstocke, op. cit., p. 57, plates 111 and 112). The turn of Venus' head towards her lifted arm in the Ambrosiana sheet is close to that of Venus in the present painting, and it is particularly interesting to note that the position of Venus' head in Venus and Amor was twice altered. This underlines the connection between the two works and it is more than reasonable to assume that the pictures were painted around the same time, that is in the first half of the 1620s, with Venus and Amor perhaps dating from slightly earlier than the present picture.

The eroticism of the scene would have appealed to private patrons and the fact that it is painted on slate would also indicate that this was a private commission: the unusual support, unique in Procaccini's œuvre, may have been stipulated by the patron himself. Although more used to working on a large scale (and therefore on canvas), Procaccini also executed easel paintings on copper and panel and although this is the only known example of a painting by him on slate, it was a much-favoured support for North Italian painters of the 16th century, particularly in Verona. The slate support heightens the chiaroscuro effects, particularly on the figure of Venus, and provides a slick, almost glossy, surface on which to paint. Details such as the tassles on the cushions are beautifully preserved and the dark slate background acts as a uniform backdrop to the erotic scene playing out in front.