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Lot Essay
This magnificent effervescent full-scale bozzetto confirms Sebastiano Ricci's credentials as a major Venetian painter willing to adapt the traditions of artists such as Veronese to modern circumstances. Drawing on Veronese's ceilings painted for S. Sebastiano, in particular The Coronation of Esther, this sketch falls early in Sebastiano Ricci's career.
Scarpa (op.cit. 257) describes his 'splendid colourism, orchestrated with a free and lively brushstroke, and modulated above all with variants of red contrasted with unexpected flashes of white when the light falls and bounces off.' He dated the picture close to or just after Ricci's stay in Piacenza (1685-8) when he was employed by Rannucio Farnese, Duke of Parma. Early as this painting is - and an indication of that is its former attribution to Luca Giordano - Daniels' later dating to Ricci's arrival in Rome around 1691 seems more plausible. The draughtsmanship is more ambitious and sophisticated than in his Piacentine composition. Indeed, as Daniels (written communication, 1980) observes, the depiction of the soldiers anticipates figures Ricci painted in his sketches for the decoration of S. Bernardino in Milan, datable to 1692.
While scholars are unanimous in their appreciation of the quality of this canvas, its subject has been debated. It had been described as The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa before Pope Alexander III and The Emperor Henry IV before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa. However, the most convincing identification is as a scene from the life of Giovanni de' Medici, Pope Leo X (1513-1521) who is portrayed here blessing Giulano, Duke of Nemours, the Pope's brother and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, the Pope's nephew. The features of the Pope conform to those in various portraits, notably Domenico Aimo's statue in S. Maria in Aracoeli, Rome (1514) and Raffaello da Montelupo's statue on the tomb of Leo X (completed in 1542) in S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, where Baccio Bandinelli's central attic relief depicts a similar subject and composition to the present work. The lion's mask on the throne was a symbol associated with Leo X and the prominently placed ducal crown on its steps alludes to the rank of the two kneeling figures. The cardinals may be identified as Giulio de' Medici, later Pope Clement VII (1523-1534), and to his left Pietro Bembo (1470-1547), secretary to Leo X. Such a sketch might represent an early attempt by Ricci to win Medici patronage, even if it anticipates by over a decade Sebastiano's highly successful visit to Florence in 1706-8.
Recent speculation suggests that this painting was appropriate for a commission from Prince Ferdinando de' Medici (1663-1713). If this is true, then it is tempting to think that the artist's visit to Florence, where he stopped on his way to Milan in December 1694, was in connection with this work. More recently, Professoressa Mina Gregori (verbal communication, 1995) has suggested that this work may be linked to a series of frescoes by Baldassarre Franceschini, Il Volterrano (1611-1689), known as The Return of the Golden Age of the Medici. This project was commissiond by Don Lorenzo de' Medici for the courtyard of the Villa della Petraia, Florence and was conceived as a way to glorify the name of the Medici family and emphasize their links to the Papacy, a theme that is also evident in the present painting.
Scarpa (op.cit. 257) describes his 'splendid colourism, orchestrated with a free and lively brushstroke, and modulated above all with variants of red contrasted with unexpected flashes of white when the light falls and bounces off.' He dated the picture close to or just after Ricci's stay in Piacenza (1685-8) when he was employed by Rannucio Farnese, Duke of Parma. Early as this painting is - and an indication of that is its former attribution to Luca Giordano - Daniels' later dating to Ricci's arrival in Rome around 1691 seems more plausible. The draughtsmanship is more ambitious and sophisticated than in his Piacentine composition. Indeed, as Daniels (written communication, 1980) observes, the depiction of the soldiers anticipates figures Ricci painted in his sketches for the decoration of S. Bernardino in Milan, datable to 1692.
While scholars are unanimous in their appreciation of the quality of this canvas, its subject has been debated. It had been described as The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa before Pope Alexander III and The Emperor Henry IV before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa. However, the most convincing identification is as a scene from the life of Giovanni de' Medici, Pope Leo X (1513-1521) who is portrayed here blessing Giulano, Duke of Nemours, the Pope's brother and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, the Pope's nephew. The features of the Pope conform to those in various portraits, notably Domenico Aimo's statue in S. Maria in Aracoeli, Rome (1514) and Raffaello da Montelupo's statue on the tomb of Leo X (completed in 1542) in S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, where Baccio Bandinelli's central attic relief depicts a similar subject and composition to the present work. The lion's mask on the throne was a symbol associated with Leo X and the prominently placed ducal crown on its steps alludes to the rank of the two kneeling figures. The cardinals may be identified as Giulio de' Medici, later Pope Clement VII (1523-1534), and to his left Pietro Bembo (1470-1547), secretary to Leo X. Such a sketch might represent an early attempt by Ricci to win Medici patronage, even if it anticipates by over a decade Sebastiano's highly successful visit to Florence in 1706-8.
Recent speculation suggests that this painting was appropriate for a commission from Prince Ferdinando de' Medici (1663-1713). If this is true, then it is tempting to think that the artist's visit to Florence, where he stopped on his way to Milan in December 1694, was in connection with this work. More recently, Professoressa Mina Gregori (verbal communication, 1995) has suggested that this work may be linked to a series of frescoes by Baldassarre Franceschini, Il Volterrano (1611-1689), known as The Return of the Golden Age of the Medici. This project was commissiond by Don Lorenzo de' Medici for the courtyard of the Villa della Petraia, Florence and was conceived as a way to glorify the name of the Medici family and emphasize their links to the Papacy, a theme that is also evident in the present painting.