Bolognese School

circa 1700

Judith and Holofernes

Footnotes

The style of the present copper would suggest an artist trained in Bologna and working at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, such as Lorenzo Pasinelli, or one of his accomplished pupils, who included Gian Antonio Burrini, Gioseffo dal Sole and Donato Creti. The detail of landscape that can be seen to the top left, along with the figure types, especially the pose of the left-hand figure seen from behind, as well as the treatment of fabrics and the draped curtain, recall the work of Creti in particular in his Episodes from the Life of Achilles, four masterpieces that were commissioned by Collin Sbaraglia in circa 1715. The pose of the left-hand figure seen from behind is close to both the central figure in Creti's Achilles and Chiron from this series, and to the servant in his Artemisia drinking the ashes of Mausolus in the National Gallery, London, (inv.no. NG6628) that has been dated to circa 1713-14. A very similar treatment of delicate, feathery foliage set against an atmospheric sky can also be found in Creti's Achilles and Chiron, (see: R. Roli, Donato Creti, Milan, 1967, ill. pl. 41) as is characteristic of many works by Creti from this period, such as his extraordinary and celebrated series of Astronomical Observations: eight small panels that were commissioned by the scientist, Luigi Marsigli and given to Pope Clement XI (now in the Vatican Museums).

The subject itself of Judith and Holofernes (which symbolized the victory of the weak and virtuous over the strong and tyrannous and to us today is best remembered in the works of such 17th century trail-blazing female artists as Artemisia Gentileschi and Fede Galizia) was popular among the Bolognese school at the time: from Guido Reni's large version of the subject of circa 1625-6 - now in the Sedelmayer Collection, Geneva - to the 1715 drawing of the subject by Gioseffo dal Sole, who was a pupil of both Reni and Pasinelli, which was cited in Giuseppe Campori's contemporary catalogue of artists in the Este Territories; up until those versions of the subject that were painted somewhat later on in the 18th century by Francesco Monti, who was influenced by Donato Creti.

Bonhams sold a copy of the present composition, on canvas, 53.8 x 37 cm., on the 23 April 2009, lot 77, as Bolognese School, 18th century.