LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

40.00 in. (101.60 cm.) (height) by 32.28 in. (82.00 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed and dated ‘Meer 1655’ (lower left)

Exhibited:

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Florentine Baroque Art from American Collections, 1969, no. 39, pp. 22, 44-5, illustrated as Ficherelli.New York, Spencer A. Samuels Gallery, Inaugural Exhibition, 1984, no. 14, as by Vermeer.Warsaw, the Royal Castle, Opus Sacrum. Catalogue of the Exhibition from the Collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, 1990, no. 48, pp. 11, 272-7, illustrated, as by Vermeer.Cracow, International Cultural Centre and the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow, Jan Vermeer van Delft, St. Praxedis. An Exhibition of a Painting from the Collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, May-September 1991, pp. 8-28, as by Vermeer.Washington D.C., The National Gallery of Art, Johannes Vermeer, 12 November 1995-11 February 1996 and The Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1 March-2 June 1996, no. 1, pp. 86-9, as by Vermeer.Monaco, Musée de la Chapelle de la Visitation, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) Sainte Praxedis, 1998, pp. 4-37, as by Vermeer.Rome, Scuderia del Quirinale, Vermeer. Il secolo d’oro dell’arte olandese, 27 September 2012-20 January 2013, no. 45a, as by Vermeer.

Literature:

M. Kitson, ‘Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions: Florentine Baroque Art in New York’, The Burlington Magazine, 111, June 1969, p. 410, as by Vermeer.H. Kühn, ‘A Study of the Pigments and Grounds Used by Jan Vermeer’, in Studies in the History of Art 2, Washington, 1972, pp. 154-202. D. Hannema, ‘Nieuws over Johannes Vermeer van Delft’, Enkele mededelingen ‘Stichting Hannemade Steurs Fundatie, 1974-5, p. 22 illustrated, p. 30.A. Blankert, Johannes Vermeer van Delft 1632-1675, Utrecht and Antwerp, 1975, p. 112, no. 5.C. Wright, Vermeer, London, 1976, p. 7, fg. 3, as ‘attributed to Vermeer’.A. Blankert, Johannes Vermeer of Delft 1632-1675, Oxford and New York, 1978, p. 75, no. 13, as a copy after Ficherelli.D. Hannema, ‘Problemen rondom Vermeer van Delft’, in J.C. Ebbinge, ed.,Boymans Bijdragen, Rotterdam, 1978, p. 95, illustrated p. 6.A. Blankert, J.M. Montias and G. Aillaud, Vermeer, Paris, 1986 (reprinted Amsterdam, 1992), p. 163, no. 5.A.K. Wheelock, Jr., ‘Saint Praxedis: New Light on the Early Career of Vermeer’, Artibus et Historiae, 14, 1986, pp. 71-89, figs. 1,3-4, 7-13, 15-6 and 19-20, as by Vermeer.P. Richard, ‘Trying to Verify a Vermeer’, International Herald Tribune, 25:18, 1987, p. 18, illustrated.A.K. Wheelock Jr., Jan Vermeer, New York, 1988, pp. 8, 13, 50-1, pl. 2, as by Vermeer.J.M. Montias, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History, Princeton, 1989, pp. 140-3, 146, illustrated, p. 17.A. Wheelock, Jan Vermeer van Delft: St. Praxedis, Cracow, Wawel Royal Castle, 1991, as by Vermeer.A. Blankert, W. Van de Watering, et al., Vermeer, New York, 1992, p. 163, no. 5.W. Chong, Johannes Vermeer: Gezicht op Delft, Bloemendaal, 1992, pp. 21, 89, no. 23.W.A. Liedtke, ‘Vermeer Teaching Himself’, in Rembrandt Och Hans Tid/Rembrandt and His Age, exhibition catalogue, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 1992, pp. 96, 104-5, nos. 37-8, illustrated p. 3, as possibly by Vermeer.B. Broos, Intimacies and Intrigues. History painting in the Mauritshuis, The Hague and Ghent, 1993, p. 314, no. 41, as possibly the ‘missing link’ between Christ in the House of Mary and Martha and Diana and her Companions.J.M. Montias, Vermeer en zijn milieu, Baarn, 1993, pp. 162-3, illustrated p. 17.G.J.M. Weber, ‘Antoine Dézallier d’Argenville unf fünf Künstler namens Jan van der Meer’, Oud Holland, 107, 1993, p. 301, fg. 7, as Jan van der Meer of Utrecht.A.K. Wheelock, Jr., Vermeer and the Art of Painting, New Haven and London, 1995, pp. 7, 20-7, 29, 34, 36, 113, 163 and 169, illustrated p. 8, as by Vermeer.C. Wright, Vermeer: Catalogue Raisonné, London, 1995, as possibly by Vermeer.C. Brown, exhibition review, The Burlington Magazine, CXXXVIII, no. 1117, April 1996, p. 281, illustrated p. 282, as attributed to Vermeer, with reservations.W. Franits, Grove Dictionary of Art, ed., J. Turner, London, 1996, XXXII, p. 262, ‘the controversial Saint Praxedis also testifes to Vermeer’s exposure to Italian art’.X. Van Eck, ‘Vermeer in The Hague’, exhibition review, Apollo, May 1996, p. 47, as ‘hotly disputed’.A. Wheelock, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675): St. Praxedis, Monaco, Musée de la Chapelle de la Visitation, 1998, pp. 5-34, as by Vermeer.J. Wadum, ‘Contours of Vermeer’, in Vermeer Studies, Studies in the History of Art, 55, Symposium Papers XXXIII, eds., I. Gaskell and M. Jonker, New Haven and London, 1998, pp. 201-23, illustrated, as probably by Ficherelli.B. Broos, ‘Vermeer: Malice and Misconception’, in Vermeer Studies, pp. 30, as ‘the latest wrongly attributed Vermeer’.M.J. Bok, ‘Not to be confused with the Sphinx of Delft: The Utrecht Painter Johannes van der Meer (Schipluiden 1630-1695/1697 Vreeswijk?)’ in Vermeer Studies, pp. 67-8, 75 and 79, as probably Italian, not by van der Meer or Vermeer.W. Liedtke, A View of Delft. Vermeer and His Contemporaries, Zwolle, 2000, p. 197, as not by Vermeer.W. Liedtke, Vermeer and the Deflt School, exhibition catalogue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001, pp. 581-2, no. 87, as probably Florentine.W.E. Frantis, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer, Cambridge, 2001, ‘the controversial Saint Praxedis’.Q. Buvelot, review of the exhibition, ‘Vermeer and Dutch Painting‘, The Burlington Magazine, CLIV, December 2012, p. 873.

Provenance:

Erna and Jacob Reder, New York, 1943.with Spencer Samuels & Co., New York, 1969.The Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection, by whom acquired from the above in 1987.