Sebastiano Ricci

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 work is in beautiful condition. There is a lovely texture to the paint layer. It is visibly dirty, but it is clearly healthy beneath the old yellowed varnish. Although the work has a very warm palette, there does not appear to be any of the weakness that one so often finds in darker colors. It seems that the work will respond very well to cleaning, requiring very few retouches. There are a couple of spots of retouching in the lower left, but there otherwise do not appear to be any retouches under ultraviolet light or to the naked eye.
"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."

Sebastiano Ricci probably painted this unlined and hitherto unknown canvas during his Florentine sojourn of 1706-07. During this period he came into contact with, and was strongly influenced by, Alessandro Magnasco, who specialised in such fantastical scenes. In a dark setting we see Saint Anthony attacked by demons and imaginary creatures who personify his impure thoughts. Through the power of prayer and faith the saint, who was living in seclusion away from society, was able to stand by his Christian beliefs and resist temptation.

Ricci treated the subject on several occasions and each time repeated different motifs found in the present work. The centaur holding a tamburine, for example, is also found in the work sold London, Sotheby's, 14 April 2011, lot 173. The figure kneeling on all fours, as well as Anthony Abbot, seen lower right beside the pig, his traditional attribute, recurr in the upright picture in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, in which the figures are by Ricci and the landscape by Antonio Peruzzini, an artist who also collaborated frequently with Magnasco.¹ The same two figures are also found in the Temptation of Saint Anthony in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venice.²

1. See A. Scarpa, Sebastiano Ricci, Milan 2006, p. 298, cat. no. 434, reproduced in color plate XXXI.
2. Ibid., p. 321, cat. no. 506, reproduced fig. 326