Circle of Carlo Maratta

Duke of Manchester, Kimbolton Castle, Kimbolton;

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 3 July 1997, lot 86 (as attributed to Tommaso Chiari), for £43,300;

Private collection, Italy;

Anonymous sale, Genova, Wannenes, 5 March 2024, lot 32 (as attributed to Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari);

From whom acquired by the present owner.

This elegant pair of canvases shares stylistic affinities with the works of Carlo Maratta (1625–1713), the leading figure of the Roman school of painting in the latter half of the 17^th century. Amongst his followers were figures like Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (1654–1727), who is known to have executed variants of both the subjects illustrated in these works. Of note, is his Bathsheba at her Bath, originally based on a composition by Maratta in a private collection, which shares the same delicate colouring as the present canvases.¹

When offered for sale in 1997 from the collection of the Duke of Manchester at Kimbolton Castle, these works were attributed to Tommaso Chiari (1665–1733), Bartolomeo’s younger brother, of whom very little is known.²

¹ Inv. no. 1993.401; oil on canvas; 135.9 x 97.8 cm.; https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435894

² A securely attributed modello for a fresco in the Church of San Clemente, Rome, depicting The Death of Saint Servolo is in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome; https://barberinicorsini.org/artwork/?id=WE5178