Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
Lot 8
Francesco Rizzo da Santacroce(active Venice, 1507-circa 1545)The Holy Family with a female martyr saint
8 December 2016, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£15,000 - £20,000
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Francesco Rizzo da Santacroce (active Venice, 1507-circa 1545)
The Holy Family with a female martyr saint
oil on panel
68.8 x 98.2cm (27 1/16 x 38 11/16in).
oil on panel
68.8 x 98.2cm (27 1/16 x 38 11/16in).
Footnotes
The angular treatment of the drapery in the present work, along with the dramatic tonality of the sky suggest this is a typical, late work by Francesco Rizzo da Santacroce. A further characteristic of this Holy Family with a female martyr Saint is the underdrawing which is visible throughout. This peculiarity is seen in works by the artist such as his Holy Family with Saint Simon previously on the art market in Venice (see: E. Rowlands, 'Raffazzonando con qualche gusto e con buona pratica. Le opere tarde di Francesco Rizzo da Santacroce' in Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell'Arte, no. 23, 1999, pp. 18). In his article, Rowlands believes that this may simply be the result of the way the artist put together his pigments. The underdrawing is itself notable for its lack of hatching which may suggest that the artist regularly used cartoons to repeat his compositions, as his teacher Francesco di Simone da Santacroce (Santa Croce circa 1470-1508 Venice) had done before him.
We are grateful to Peter Humfrey for confirming the attribution upon firsthand inspection of the painting.
