(Mazzo di Valtellina 1510–1579 Rome)
Ecce Homo,
oil on canvas, 72 x 59 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Francesca Parrilla for confirming the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for her help in cataloguing this lot.

Christ is represented half-length wearing the crown of thorns, his hands are crossed and bound, and he wears a red tunic slightly open. His gaze is turned towards the viewer, while the drops of blood on his brow are the only evidence of his physical suffering.

In the set of engravings after the paintings in the Giustiniani collection, assembled by Charles P. Landon in 1812, there is an Ecce Homo attributed to Sodoma which is very similar to the present painting, described as on panel, and now lost. The present painting is therefore a rare and faithful record of the missing work, and an exemplary product of Marcello Venusti’s renowned activity as a copyist. A second version of this canvas, also by Venusti, is in a private collection: it confirms the artist’s practice of making multiple versions of the same subject, to satisfy the demands of patrons.

After a period in Mantua, Marcello Venusti reached Rome in the 1540s where he received patronage from the circle of the Farnese family, especially owing to his ability to replicate the inventions of Michelangelo, while also managing to introduce a personal element to his subjects. Venusti was able to meet the high demand for his works thanks to the support of his family-run studio, which from the early 1550s was located on the ground floor of his house in the Campo Marzio district of Rome.