Carlo Saraceni (1579 - 1620) , and workshop "Madonna... Lot 299

Carlo Saraceni (1579 - 1620) , and workshop "Madonna and Child, St. Anne and Angel," also called "Madonna of Sleep" or "An Angel Watches over the Child Jesus with the Virgin and St. Elizabeth," 1610-1615 Oil on canvas 89.5 x 125 cm Distinctive elements: on the frame on the verso, in black marker, "LK1516"; on the upper axis of the frame, in black marker, "LI"; on the lower axis, typed label, applied with three pins ""MADONNA WITH CHILD, S. GIOVANNINO AND S.ANNA" by Saraceni. (Purchased at auction at the IL PRATO Gallery in Florence on 11/20/70 for £.507,060)" Provenance: Giovan Angelo Altemps (1587-1620; inv. of 1618-1619, "a large painting" by "Carlo Venetiano" depicting "the Madonna, St. Elizabeth and Our Lord with an angel") ?; Galleria Il Prato, Florence, 11/20/70; Koelliker Collection (Nov. 2002) Bibliography: G. Papi, card in, G. Papi, ed, "Caravaggio's 'schola'. Paintings from the Koelliker Collection," exhibition catalog, edited by G. Papi, Milan 2006, pp. 106-107, cat. 25 (Saraceni); S. Benedetti," The 'schola' of Caravaggio. Ariccia," The Burlington Magazine, CIL, Feb. 2007, p. 129 (Saraceni and workshop); Y. Primarosa, "The rediscovered original. Carlo Saraceni and the "Angel Watching the Child Jesus with the Virgin and St. Anne" between Autograph Replicas, Derivations and Copies," in P. Di Loreto, ed. in P. Di Loreto, ed. "Originals, Replicas, Copies. A different look at the Great Masters," Rome, 2018, pp. 174-180 (Saraceni's collaborators, on Saraceni's prototype); Y. Primarosa, "New light on Carlo Saraceni: The Madonna del Pilar of S. Maria in Monserrato and other unpublished works," in "History of Art," Winter 2018, pp. 73-74 and 75 nn. 18-19, (Saraceni's collaborators, on Saraceni's prototype) Exposures: G. Papi, ed, "Caravaggio's 'schola'. Paintings from the Koelliker Collection," (Ariccia, Palazzo Chigi), October 13, 2006 - February 11, 2007, Ariccia, Palazzo Chigi Conservation status. Support: 80% (reintelo; reduction of a few centimeters on the left side). Conservation status. Surface: 85% (diffuse color falls, including on faces; possibly a breakthrough of the canvas; pictorial recoveries and protective varnish, including on the head of the Child) Venetian Carlo Saraceni (c. 1579 -1620) was one of the earliest followers of Caravaggio, to whom, to use Roberto Longhi's words, he gave a "neo-Giorgionesque" interpretation by blending the realism of the Lombard master with tonal painting of Venetian influence. He arrived in Rome in 1598 where he frequented the workshop of Vicentine sculptor Camillo Mariani (1567-1611) and soon passed into the service of German painter Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610). Between 1609 and 1610 he painted the "Transit of the Virgin," preferred by the Discalced Carmelites to Caravaggio's "Death of the Virgin," to decorate second chapel on the left of the Trastevere church of Santa Maria della Scala. As testified by other prestigious commissions - from the fresco decoration of the royal hall of the Quirinale to the canvases for San Lorenzo in Lucina and Santa Maria dell'Anima, to the canvas depicting "Enrico Dandolo and the Crusader Captains" for the hall of the Maggior Consiglio in the Doge's Palace in Venice - Saraceni was an exceptional painter but also a great promoter of his own work. According to a brilliant insight by Yuri Primarosa, he "habitually executed small-format replicas of his most famous works" himself or entrusted them to his pupils, "in his atelier on 'strada Ripetta verso San Giacomo.'" "But were these "mementos" that remained in the workshop as a reminder of the most important works executed? Or was it a kind of showcase or sampler to be shown to potential clients who could ask the painter for more replicas of the works viewed? With all evidence the answer is affirmative to both questions. Originals, second or third autograph versions, four-hand paintings and copies derived from them contributed, along with prints, to spreading the artist's work and enhancing his reputation on a European scale" (Primarosa, 2018, "The rediscovered original. Carlo Saraceni etc.," pp. 73-74). (... continued: full card in the catalog pdf at the link https://goforarts.com/doc/VB_IT_2_2/Meraviglie_Atto_II_HR.pdf . The catalog also includes lots not available on online platforms, including many of the most prestigious).