(Florence 1439–1507)
The Pietà with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Saint Mary Magdalen and Saint John the Evangelist,
oil on panel, 168 x 144.5 cm, unframed

Provenance:
sale, Christie’s, London, 20 February 1986, lot 117 (as Cosimo Rosselli);
where acquired by the father of the present owner

Literature:
A. Forlani Tempesti, E. Capretti (eds.), Piero di Cosimo. Catalogo completo, Florence 1996, mentioned p. 121 (as Cosimo Rosselli);
E. Gabrielli, L’impresa Sistina e l’ultima ‘maniera’ di Cosimo Rosselli, in: F. Benzi (ed.), Sisto IV. Le arti a Roma nel Primo Rinascimento. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Rome 2000, p. 213, fig. 115, p. 221, note 108 (as ‘Cosimo Rosselli e collaboratori’);
E. Fahy, List of painting by Cosimo Rosselli, in: A. R. Blumenthal (ed.), Cosimo Rosselli. Painter of Sistine Chapel, exhibition catalogue, Winter Park 2001, p. 251 (as Cosimo Rosselli);
E. Gabrielli, Cosimo Rosselli. Catalogo ragionato, Turin 2007, p. 230, no. 91 (as Cosimo Rosselli and workshop);
E. Ghetti, D. Benati (eds.), Massimo Turchi. La collezione, Turin 2019, pp. 144–145, no. 83, illustrated p. 145 (as Cosimo Rosselli)

The present Pietà, set against a rocky landscape and characterised by cool, metallic colours, reflects a new spirituality emerging in Tuscany at the end of the 15th century. During this period, sacred images were simplified in a quest for a sense of piety, in-line with the Northern European iconography of the ‘Vesperbild’. This simplified iconography spread in central Italy from the mid-15th century due to the strong presence of the German community in Tuscany demonstrated by the lay confraternity at the Church of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence. The most significant example of adherence to this model is the altarpiece painted by Pietro Perugino around 1495 for the Church of the Gesuati di San Giusto alle Mura, now in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. 1890 no. 8365).

Cosimo Rosselli was born in Florence between 1439 and 1440 and he came from a family of craftsmen and artists. In 1453 he joined Neri di Bicci’s workshop and remained there until 1456. Between 1465 and 1466, he worked in the Cathedral of Pisa and San Romolo in Fiesole. In the 1470s, he received significant commissions for frescoes and altarpieces, including the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in 1481. Returning to Florence, he worked in the churches of Santo Spirito and Sant’Ambrogio. His workshop included prominent artists such as Fra Bartolomeo, Mariotto Albertinelli, and Piero di Cosimo.

The model of the present painting was probably used later by Piero di Cosimo around 1510, for the painting of the Pietà for the Church of San Martino in Preci di Norcia, now in the National Gallery of Umbria (see E. Capretti, A. Forlani Tempesti [eds.], Piero di Cosimo 1462–1522. Pittore eccentrico fra Rinascimento e Maniera, exhibition catalogue, Florence 2015, pp. 266–267 no. 29).