LOT DETAILS
Materials:
oil on canvas, octagonal
Measurements:
39.96 in. (101.50 cm.) (height) by 32.68 in. (83.00 cm.) (width)
Markings:
with a red wax seal bearing the Royal Arms of the House of Orange, and another bearing unidentifed arms, possibly those of Carpanti (on the reverse of the stretcher)
Exhibited:
Florence, Cloister of Santissima Annunziata, 1729. (Possibly) Florence, Cloister of Santissima Annunziata, 1767.
Provenance:
Painted for the artist's confessor (probably Domenico Carpanti), Florence (according to Baldinucci, see below). Giovanni Battista Galli (b. 1642), who purchased the set (possibly from the above) for 120 scudi before 1677, Palazzo Galli, via Pandolfini, Florence. Marchese Cosimo Riccardi (1671-1751), Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, and by descent until 1810, when acquired by Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840); Stanley's, London, 16 May 1816, lot 154, 'St. Mark, forming one of the Series of Four Evangelists, formerly in the Riccardi Palace. The character of the Head, the drawing of the Hands, and the cast of the Draperies, are excellent' (125). with Nieuwenhuys, Paris, by whom acquired on 8 July 1826 for 20,000 francs. William, Prince of Orange, subesequently King William II of the Netherlands (1792-1849), by 1837; (+) his sale, J. de Vries, C. F. Roos, J. A. Brondgeest, The Hague, 12-20 August 1850, lot 153, erroneously described as Saint Luke, 'L'apetre est represente ecrivant l'evangile. Son attitude indique qu'il est plonge dans la reflexion; dans l'ombre on decouvre un lion. Ce beau tableau, quoique d'un grand fini, est peint d'une maniere large, et les couleurs y ont cette transparence qu'on admire dans toutes les oeuvres de l'artiste' (unsold); 14 October 1850 (8000 florins to the following) Friedrich zu Wied, Prince of the Netherlands, and by inheritance to Marie zu Wied, Princess of the Netherlands, Schloss Neuwied, Germany; (+), Sotheby's, 5 July 1967, lot 18, as 'C. Dolci' (420 to Waddingham). Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 8 December 1995, lot 103 (260,000 to the present owners).