(1528–1588)
The baptism of Christ, pen and brown ink, grey wash, on laid paper, 29,5 x 16 cm, browned, somewhat stained, mounted, framed, (Sch)

The present drawing is related to the altar painting “Baptism of Christ” in the Chiesa Il Redentore, Venice (Oil on canvas, 350 x 170 cm). It repeats the composition almost identically. The painting was part of a cycle which comprised six altar paintings with scenes from the life of Christ which were executed for the side altars of Il Redentore between 1588 and 1600. The attribution of the painting to Veronese was debated controversially for a long time. Pignatti had assigned it to the artist in 1976 (T. Pignatti, Veronese, Venice, 1976, I. S.198, Nr. A222, Fig. 905), but Rearick recognized that the painting which is signed “Aeredes Pauli Caliairii Vero / F C” and dated 1588 is presumably a version based on drawings and oil sketches which were preserved in the workshop after the master’s death. (R. Rearick, The Art of Paolo Veronese, 1528–1588, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1988, pp. 201–203). One late drawing by Veronese “Four studies for the Baptism of Christ” is preserved in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Inv. 1924.101). Veronese had been assigned quite a number of versions of “The Baptism of Christ” which he could not finish but had prepared them with drawings, bozzetti and modelli . These preliminary works were used after Veronese’s death by the master’s workshop and/or his followers for replicas after compositions of their master, as Diana Gisolfi explained in detail in her article “Collaboration and Replicas in the Shop of Paolo Veronese and his Heirs” (Artibus et Historae, 2007, Vol 28, No. 55, p. 73–86).

Apart from the painting in Il Redentore Gisolfi also mentions a version in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York (oil on canvas; 340 x 179 cm; Gisolfi 2007, Fig. 9, 10, p. 83) which is a replica after the painting in Venice executed by the studio following Veronese’s death. The version of the painting is almost identical with the earlier painting in Il Redentore, but the two heads of putti in the water and an inscription plate with the signature “Aeredes Pauli Caliari Facieba” next to the right front angel were added. The later additions are missing in the present drawing which may have been executed after the earlier version in Venice and was probably copied in situ by an anonymous artist of Veronese’s late workshop.

We are grateful to Prof. Richard Cocke for the scientific support.