(Venice 1579–1620)
Death of the Virgin
oil on copper, 37.5 x 28.8 cm, framed

Provenance:
Anonymus sale, Christie´s, London, 14th December 1979, lot 47 (as ‘F. Saraceni’);
Private European collection

Some scholars have suggested that the present painting is an entirely autograph work by Carlo Saraceni, or by Carlo Saraceni and his assistants, while Maria Giulia Aurigemma believes that the painting was executed in the workshop of the Master under his supervision.

The first version of the Dormition of the Virgin (oil on canvas, 305 x 231 cm) by Carlo Saraceni was commissioned by the Carmelites of Santa Maria della Scala for the chapel of Laerzio Cherubini and was intended to take the place of the Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio. This commission launched the career of the young Venetian artist, Carlo Saraceni (circa 1579–1620) in Rome during the first decade of the seventeenth century. This painting is now in the collection of Richard L. Feigen, on loan to Metropolitan Museum, New York (see: J. Marciari, in: Italian paintings from the Richard L. Feigen Collection, ed. by L. Kanter, J. Marciari, exhibition catalogue, New Haven 2010, pp. 140-145, no. 43, fig. 43).

As the Carmelites preferred a “glory with angels” to the painting’s prospect of severe architecture, Saraceni made some changes to the first canvas but the Fathers of Santa Maria della Scala were not satisfied and the work was rejected for subtle theological reasons. Saraceni and his workshop then painted a second and definitive large canvas (now in Santa Maria della Scala, Rome, 385 x 240 cm, see: A. Ottani Cavina, Carlo Saraceni, Milan, pp. 118-119, no. 69, fig. 120; M. Nicolaci, Carlo Saraceni. Un veneziano tra Roma e l’Europa 1579-1620, ed. by M. G. Aurigemma, exhibition catalogue, Rome 2013, pp. 210-216, no. 24, ill.), varying his composition to conform more closely to the theological vision of Mary as Queen, welcomed in heaven.

As the first version of the composition was returned to Saraceni he then created a third, smaller version on copper based on the examples of the two larger precedents: he chose to depict the slumbering Virgin at the time of the Dormition, showing some architecture in the background and introducing some minor differences. The success of the compositon in these years is visible in the production of several similar small-scale works by the artist and his studio on copper and canvas, including the present painting and another example also in the Richard L. Feigen collection, New York (oil on copper, 45.6 x 28 cm, see: J. Marciari, op. cit., New Haven 2010, pp. 140-145, no. 44, fig. 44; M. Nicolaci, op. cit., Rome 2013, pp. 216-218, no. 25, ill.). Other versions are in the Alte Pinacothek, Munich and Gallerie dell´Accademia Venice.

The present copper plate shows exquisite quality in some details and it appears to differ from the other versions as can be seen for example in the yellow of the turban worn by the woman on the far right. The small format of the present painting makes it a typical example of the devotional paintings produced in Italy in the beginning of the XVII Century which were very much appreciated by the collectors of the time.

Provenance:
Anonymus sale, Christie´s, London, 14th December 1979, lot 47 (as ‘F. Saraceni’);
Private European collection

Some scholars have suggested that the present painting is an entirely autograph work by Carlo Saraceni, or by Carlo Saraceni and his assistants, while Maria Giulia Aurigemma believes that the painting was executed in the workshop of the Master under his supervision.

The first version of the Dormition of the Virgin (oil on canvas, 305 x 231 cm) by Carlo Saraceni was commissioned by the Carmelites of Santa Maria della Scala for the chapel of Laerzio Cherubini and was intended to take the place of the Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio. This commission launched the career of the young Venetian artist, Carlo Saraceni (circa 1579–1620) in Rome during the first decade of the seventeenth century. This painting is now in the collection of Richard L. Feigen, on loan to Metropolitan Museum, New York (see: J. Marciari, in: Italian paintings from the Richard L. Feigen Collection, ed. by L. Kanter, J. Marciari, exhibition catalogue, New Haven 2010, pp. 140-145, no. 43, fig. 43).

As the Carmelites preferred a “glory with angels” to the painting’s prospect of severe architecture, Saraceni made some changes to the first canvas but the Fathers of Santa Maria della Scala were not satisfied and the work was rejected for subtle theological reasons. Saraceni and his workshop then painted a second and definitive large canvas (now in Santa Maria della Scala, Rome, 385 x 240 cm, see: A. Ottani Cavina, Carlo Saraceni, Milan, pp. 118-119, no. 69, fig. 120; M. Nicolaci, Carlo Saraceni. Un veneziano tra Roma e l’Europa 1579-1620, ed. by M. G. Aurigemma, exhibition catalogue, Rome 2013, pp. 210-216, no. 24, ill.), varying his composition to conform more closely to the theological vision of Mary as Queen, welcomed in heaven.

As the first version of the composition was returned to Saraceni he then created a third, smaller version on copper based on the examples of the two larger precedents: he chose to depict the slumbering Virgin at the time of the Dormition, showing some architecture in the background and introducing some minor differences. The success of the compositon in these years is visible in the production of several similar small-scale works by the artist and his studio on copper and canvas, including the present painting and another example also in the Richard L. Feigen collection, New York (oil on copper, 45.6 x 28 cm, see: J. Marciari, op. cit., New Haven 2010, pp. 140-145, no. 44, fig. 44; M. Nicolaci, op. cit., Rome 2013, pp. 216-218, no. 25, ill.). Other versions are in the Alte Pinacothek, Munich and Gallerie dell´Accademia Venice.

The present copper plate shows exquisite quality in some details and it appears to differ from the other versions as can be seen for example in the yellow of the turban worn by the woman on the far right. The small format of the present painting makes it a typical example of the devotional paintings produced in Italy in the beginning of the XVII Century which very much appreciated by the collectors of the time.