Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880)

In Saint Peter's, Rome

Details

Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880)
In Saint Peter's, Rome
signed with initials and dated 'Vatican Nov 1st 1868-SRG' (lower left)
oil on canvas
10¾ x 8 in. (27.3 x 20.3 cm.)

Provenance

The artist.
Sale: Thomas E. Kirby, Auctioneers, Gifford Estate Sale, Part 1, April 12, 1881, no. 130 (as St. Peter's, Rome).
Richard York Gallery, New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1984.

Literature

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gifford Memorial Catalogue, New York, 1880, n.p., no. 518 (as A Sketch in St. Peter's Rome).
Richard York Gallery, The Italian Presence in American Art: 1860-1920, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1989, p. 6, no. 19, illustrated.
T.E. Stebbins, Jr., ed., The Lure of Italy: American Artists and The Italian Experience, exhibition catalogue, Boston, Massachusetts, 1992, p. 437, fig. 133, illustrated.

Exhibited

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Loan Collection of Paintings in the West and East Galleries, 1880-81, no. 123 (as In the Vatican, a Study).
New York, Richard York Gallery, The Italian Presence in American Art: 1860-1920, November 17-December 29, 1989, no. 19.
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, and elsewhere, The Lure of Italy: American Artist and the Italian Experience, 1760-1914, September 16-December 14, 1992, no. 133.

Lot Essay

The present work was painted during Sanford Robinson Gifford's second trip to Europe from 1868 to 1869. He "made this small sketch on November 1, 1868, of the room below the Vatican's Sala Regia, which was intersected by Bernini's famous staircase. He noted in his journal that he was fascinated to observe 'the sunlight and color and gorgeous costumes of the people passing to and fro...the whole scene...has come down to us precisely as it was hundreds of years ago, with all its pomp and magnificence.'" (T.E. Stebbins, Jr., ed., The Lure of Italy: American Artists and The Italian Experience, exhibition catalogue, Boston, Massachusetts, 1992, p. 437)

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