(Rocchette in Sabina 1637 – after 1710 Rome)
Christ mourned by angels and Saint Mary Magdalene,
indistinctly inscribed lower center,
oil on canvas, 149 x 199.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
art market Rome, 1980s (as Annibale Carracci);
with Kate Ganz, London;
sale, Christie’s, London, 9 July 1993, lot 76 (as Girolamo Troppa, with the provenance of the Sagradi-Strozzi Family, Ferrara);
with Minai Faldella, Bologna;
Private collection, Switzerland

Literature:
E. Schleier, Disegni di Girolamo Troppa nelle collezioni tedesche e altrove, in: Antichità Viva, XXIX, 6, 1990, p. 32, fig. 23 (as Girolamo Troppa);
F. Petrucci, Considerazioni su Girolamo Troppa: un ‘tenebrista’ del tardo Seicento romano, in: Prospettiva, 146, 2012, p. 100, no. 112 (as Girolamo Troppa);
E. Schleier, Altre aggiunte a Girolamo Troppa pittore e disegnatore, in: Studi di Storia dell’Arte, 26, 2015, p. 221, fig. 7, p. 225 (as Girolamo Troppa)

The present work relates to a drawing by Girolamo Troppa conserved in a private collection in Munich (see Schleier 2015 in literature). It represents Christ supported by the mourning Virgin who turns her gaze to the heavens while, to the right, the Magdalene kneels holding Christ’s hand which she kisses. The two women are respectively substituted in the present painting by the large angel looking heavenwards in desperation, and the young cherub at the centre of the composition who re-enacts the Magdalene’s gesture in the Munich drawing. Given the connection between the two compositions Schleier (2015, see literature) suggested that the drawing was the preparatory study for a lost monumental painting and the present painting may be a variant of this.

Girolamo Troppa was active in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth century where he gained distinction for his free and original manner of painting, which did not conform to the prevalent baroque tenets asserted by Bernini and Pietro da Cortona. Moreover, his style was influenced by other artists, most notably Mattia Preti, Pier Francesco Mola and Giacinto Brandi, and it has been described by Francesco Petrucci (see literature) as ‘tenebrist’ owing to his predilection for strong contrasts of light and shade and an intense tonal range, as in the present painting. Over the course of his long career Troppa practiced a wide variety of painting techniques and he worked for patrons at Rome, as well as at Ferrara, in Umbria and in the Marches.