Lot No. 39 -


Leonardo Grazia, called Leonardo da Pistoia


Leonardo Grazia, called Leonardo da Pistoia - Old Master Paintings

(Pistoia 1503 - after 1548 ?Naples)
Venus,
oil on canvas, 100 x 75 cm, framed

We are grateful to Louis Waldman for endorsing the attribution of the present painting.

This present painting is a significant addition to the oeuvre of Leonardo Grazia, called Leonardo da Pistoia. Born in Pistoia in 1503, he moved to Rome and is mentioned by Giorgio Vasari as ‘Lionardo detto il Pistoia’, in his account of the life of Leonardo Grazia’s master, Giovan Francesco Penni, in which he is reported to have spent time in Rome. This hypothesis would provide further support for the very clear echoes of artists such as Raphael - with whom Penni collaborated - and Giulio Romano in Leonardo Grazia’s panels in the Galleria Borghese. Leonardo Grazia is documented in Pistoia in 1528 following the sack of Rome in 1527, but his entry into the Compagnia di San Luca in Rome in 1534 effectively marks the end of his life in his native city. In Rome, Leonardo Grazia absorbed the influence of Raphael and his followers, while also coming under the sway of the dominant artistic trend of the day, the so-called maniera, where grace and sensuous artificiality characterise his works. He is last documented as living in Naples, where he apparently resided until his death around 1548.

It was in Naples that Leonardo Grazia established his own flourishing workshop, during which time he was commissioned to execute several works of great importance, such as the enormous altarpiece in Altamura, Puglia, the work that led him to name himself ‘lo nobile maestro Leonardo Gratia da Pistoia’. Grazia’s artistic output is certainly indebted to the refined lines of Perino del Vaga and Giulio Romano, as well as to Bronzino, whilst managing to maintain his own highly recognisable style especially visible in the idealised features of his figures.

Grazia’s elegant compositions were in high demand among the Neapolitan aristocracy (see A. Nesi, Leonardo Grazia e Benedetto Pagni: echi dello stile di Giulio Romano tra Pistoia e Pescia, in: Arte Cristiana, XCIII, 2005, p. 183; P. Leone de Castris, Pittura del Cinquecento a Napoli 1540-1573, Ibid., pp. 85-107, 331-332). He appears to have experimented with many supports and techniques, among them slate and canvas. The works of the Neapolitan activity, most notably his large altar pieces, are on canvas, as are some smaller, single-figure compositions. The present painting appears to be a work of his late activity in Naples and is stylistically close to the Venus conserved in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.

Leonardo frequently made variations of successful compositions, often on different supports, especially in his later years in Naples. This is the case with the many versions of the Cleopatra, of which there is an example on slate in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie de Troyes, and another on panel sold at Christie’s in 2004 (see M. Corso, Le opere e i giorni di Leonardo Grazia da Pistoia tra Lucca, Roma e Napoli, in: Proporzioni, Florence 2018, not printed, p. 56, fig. 21); or with Venus and Amor, variations of the Capodimonte painting, of which at least two versions have appeared on the market in recent years (Pandolfini, Florence, 6 October 2009, lot 204, and Millon, Paris, 16 March 2018, lot 22). Leonardo’s Christ carrying the cross, in itself a variation of Sebastiano del Piombo’s famous composition in reverse, is known in numerous autograph versions, one in Rome, Galleria Doria-Pamphilj, one in Greenville in the Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery, or another one sold at Sotheby’s (see op, cit. Corso, 2018, p. 56, figs. 25, 26). Another version of the present painting is in Rome, Galleria Borghese (inv. no. 92, see op. cit. Corso, 2018, pp. 56, 67, fig. 20), in which the most obvious variation is the folded veil around Venus’ right arm, which is light blue in colour there. The Borghese version had been overpainted in areas, alterations that have only recently been removed, as old photographs of that version in the Fondazione Zeri (scheda no. 37593) show. Drapery covered Venus’ lap, undoubtedly in a later Tridentine effort to conceal much of the compositions’ underlying eroticism.

Specialist: Mark MacDonnell Mark MacDonnell
+43 1 515 60 403

mark.macdonnell@dorotheum.at

10.11.2020 - 16:00

Realized price: **
EUR 106,843.-
Estimate:
EUR 80,000.- to EUR 120,000.-

Leonardo Grazia, called Leonardo da Pistoia


(Pistoia 1503 - after 1548 ?Naples)
Venus,
oil on canvas, 100 x 75 cm, framed

We are grateful to Louis Waldman for endorsing the attribution of the present painting.

This present painting is a significant addition to the oeuvre of Leonardo Grazia, called Leonardo da Pistoia. Born in Pistoia in 1503, he moved to Rome and is mentioned by Giorgio Vasari as ‘Lionardo detto il Pistoia’, in his account of the life of Leonardo Grazia’s master, Giovan Francesco Penni, in which he is reported to have spent time in Rome. This hypothesis would provide further support for the very clear echoes of artists such as Raphael - with whom Penni collaborated - and Giulio Romano in Leonardo Grazia’s panels in the Galleria Borghese. Leonardo Grazia is documented in Pistoia in 1528 following the sack of Rome in 1527, but his entry into the Compagnia di San Luca in Rome in 1534 effectively marks the end of his life in his native city. In Rome, Leonardo Grazia absorbed the influence of Raphael and his followers, while also coming under the sway of the dominant artistic trend of the day, the so-called maniera, where grace and sensuous artificiality characterise his works. He is last documented as living in Naples, where he apparently resided until his death around 1548.

It was in Naples that Leonardo Grazia established his own flourishing workshop, during which time he was commissioned to execute several works of great importance, such as the enormous altarpiece in Altamura, Puglia, the work that led him to name himself ‘lo nobile maestro Leonardo Gratia da Pistoia’. Grazia’s artistic output is certainly indebted to the refined lines of Perino del Vaga and Giulio Romano, as well as to Bronzino, whilst managing to maintain his own highly recognisable style especially visible in the idealised features of his figures.

Grazia’s elegant compositions were in high demand among the Neapolitan aristocracy (see A. Nesi, Leonardo Grazia e Benedetto Pagni: echi dello stile di Giulio Romano tra Pistoia e Pescia, in: Arte Cristiana, XCIII, 2005, p. 183; P. Leone de Castris, Pittura del Cinquecento a Napoli 1540-1573, Ibid., pp. 85-107, 331-332). He appears to have experimented with many supports and techniques, among them slate and canvas. The works of the Neapolitan activity, most notably his large altar pieces, are on canvas, as are some smaller, single-figure compositions. The present painting appears to be a work of his late activity in Naples and is stylistically close to the Venus conserved in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.

Leonardo frequently made variations of successful compositions, often on different supports, especially in his later years in Naples. This is the case with the many versions of the Cleopatra, of which there is an example on slate in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie de Troyes, and another on panel sold at Christie’s in 2004 (see M. Corso, Le opere e i giorni di Leonardo Grazia da Pistoia tra Lucca, Roma e Napoli, in: Proporzioni, Florence 2018, not printed, p. 56, fig. 21); or with Venus and Amor, variations of the Capodimonte painting, of which at least two versions have appeared on the market in recent years (Pandolfini, Florence, 6 October 2009, lot 204, and Millon, Paris, 16 March 2018, lot 22). Leonardo’s Christ carrying the cross, in itself a variation of Sebastiano del Piombo’s famous composition in reverse, is known in numerous autograph versions, one in Rome, Galleria Doria-Pamphilj, one in Greenville in the Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery, or another one sold at Sotheby’s (see op, cit. Corso, 2018, p. 56, figs. 25, 26). Another version of the present painting is in Rome, Galleria Borghese (inv. no. 92, see op. cit. Corso, 2018, pp. 56, 67, fig. 20), in which the most obvious variation is the folded veil around Venus’ right arm, which is light blue in colour there. The Borghese version had been overpainted in areas, alterations that have only recently been removed, as old photographs of that version in the Fondazione Zeri (scheda no. 37593) show. Drapery covered Venus’ lap, undoubtedly in a later Tridentine effort to conceal much of the compositions’ underlying eroticism.

Specialist: Mark MacDonnell Mark MacDonnell
+43 1 515 60 403

mark.macdonnell@dorotheum.at


Buyers hotline Mon.-Fri.: 10.00am - 5.00pm
old.masters@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 403
Auction: Old Master Paintings
Auction type: Saleroom auction with Live Bidding
Date: 10.11.2020 - 16:00
Location: Vienna | Palais Dorotheum
Exhibition: 04.11. - 10.11.2020


** Purchase price incl. charges and taxes(Country of delivery: Austria)

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