Giuseppe Maria Crespi

Amadore Porcella, Rome;
By whom given to The Cleveland Museum of Art in 1936 [acc. no. 1936.350].

Bologna, Palazzo Comunale, Mostra del Settecento Bolognese, 1935, no. 14;
Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art:  The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition, 26 June - 4 October 1936, no. 153;
New York, Durlacher Brothers, Paintings by Giuseppe Maria Crespi (1665-1747), 6 January - 6 February 1937, no. 3;
Cleveland, Cleveland Public Library, December 1960, on loan from the museum;
Las Vegas, NV, Tally-Ho, Masterpieces of European Art, 1963, no. 19.

H. S. Francis, "A Sketch of St. John the Baptist by Giuseppe Maria Crespi," in Cleveland Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. XXIII, 1936, pp. 107-109, reproduced fig. 105;
"Cleveland: A Crespi for the Museum," in Art news, vol. XXXIV, 12 September 1936, p. 12;
Durlacher Brothers: Paintings by Giuseppe maria Crespi, New York 1937, no.3;
A. M. Frankfurter, "The Neglected Importance of Crespi (Part I)" in Art News, vol. XXXV, 16 January 1937, p. 12, reproduced p. 11;
"Crespi, Master of the Italian Baroque, Revived in New York Exhibit," in Art Digest, vol. XI, 15 January 1937, p. 12;
A. Porcella, Masterpieces of European Art, Las Vegas 1963, p.152, reproduced p. 153, no. 19 (listed as Crespi);
M. P. Merriman, The Paintings of Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University 1968, pp. 202-203, no. 79, reproduced fig. 147;
B. Fredericksen and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Ninteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections, Cambridge 1972, pp. 59, 415, 573;
M. P. Merriman, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Milan 1980, p. 248, no. 44, reproduced fig. 44;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Catalogue of Paintings:  Part Three.  European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries, Cleveland 1982, pp. 333-335, no. 148, reproduced;
A. Chong, European & American Painting in The Cleveland Museum of Art:  A Summary Catalogue, Cleveland 1993, p. 48, reproduced.

The canvas is lined. The surface of the work is in good condition. There is craquelure throughout. Under UV; inpainting around the outside of the subject and a little bit on the arm and chest of the subject.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present work is a study for the figure of Saint John the Baptist in Crespi's Holy Family, commissioned from the artist in 1715 by Cardinal Ottoboni, and now in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow.  The work was formerly in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, acquired in 1769 along with its pendant, The Assumption of Joseph (still Hermitage, St. Petersburg) as part of the Bruhl collection.  Crespi went on to paint a number of versions of the Holy Family and the figure of the young John the Baptist remains more or less consistent, suggesting that this study was retained in the studio and used as a guide.