Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries
Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries
Jusepe de Ribera, called Spagnoletto
The Holy Family
Auction Closed
July 5, 10:16 AM GMT
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Jusepe de Ribera, called Spagnoletto
Játiva, Valencia 1591 - 1652 Naples
The Holy Family
Pen and red ink and wash;
some squaring with a stylus and some indentation in the head of St. Joseph;
top corners cut;
bears old numbering in pen and ink, lower left, on the backing sheet: 31
86 by 120mm
This previously unknown sheet by Ribera is a rare example of a compositional study and a significant new addition to the artist's relatively small corpus of drawings.
In light of the red wash line that partly frames the left side of the sheet, it seems plausible that the work was originally hexagonal in format; most likely its painted counterpart was made to be inserted in a specific space within a decorative ensemble.
The delicacy of the execution is very typical of Ribera, as is the use of the reddish ink and wash.
We are grateful to Gabriele Finaldi for confirming the attribution to Ribera, having seen the drawing in the original, and for suggesting a dating to the second half of the 1620s.