(Mazzo di Valtellina circa 1512–1579 Rome)
The Entombment of Christ,
oil on canvas laid down on panel, 74 x 56.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Jean-Baptiste Le Ragois de Bretonvilliers, Paris;
Collection of Philippe II (1674–1723), Duke of Orléans, Paris, after 1712;
by descent within the House of Orléans to Louis-Philippe-Joseph (1747–1793), Duke of Orléans, Palais Royal, Paris;
from whom acquired by Viscount Joseph Édouard Sébastien de Walckiers de Tronchiennes (1758–1837), on behalf of François-Louis-Jean-Joseph, Marquis de Laborde-Méréville (1761–1801), who exported the painting to London in July 1792;
acquired by Michael Bryan on behalf of a syndicate of three noblemen – Francis Egerton (1736–1803), 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, his nephew George Granville Leveson-Gower (1758–1833), 2nd Marquess of Stafford and his nephew-in-law Frederick Howard (1748–1825), 5th Earl of Carlisle, in 1792, sale by private contract of the Orléans’ Italian Pictures, Bryan’s Gallery, Schomberg House, London, 26 December 1798, lot 100 (as Sebastiano del Piombo);
where acquired by Francis Egerton (1736–1803), 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, for 200 guineas, in 1798;
by descent to his nephew George Levenson-Gower (1758–1833), 2nd Marquess of Stafford, Bridgewater House, London, in 1803;
by descent to his son Francis Egerton (1800–1857), 1st Earl of Ellesmere, Bridgewater House, London, in 1833;
by descent within the family;
sale, Christie’s, London, 18 October 1946, lot 127 (as ‘Sebastiano del Piombo. Supposed to have been designed by Michelangelo. Originally transferred from a panel to canvas: transferred again to a new canvas and lined in 1899’), sold to Rocker;
with Koetser Gallery, London;
where acquired by the present owner

Documented:
Inventaire de M.re Jean-Baptist Le Ragois de Bretonvilliers, Archives nationales, Minutier central, XII, 312, 19 Octobre 1712: ‘une descente de croix de Sebastian del Piombo’

Engraved:
by Robert de Launay, in: Abbé de Fontenai (ed.), Galerie du Palais Royal gravée d’après les Tableaux des different Ecoles qui la Composent: Avec un abrégé de la Vie des Peintres & une description historique de chaque tableau, Paris 1786 (as Sebastiano del Piombo after a drawing by Michelangelo);
J. Young, A catalogue of the collection of pictures, of the most noble the Marquess of Stafford, at Cleveland House, London, containing an etching of every picture, and accompanied with historical and biographical notices, vol. I, London 1825, p. 7, cat. no. 11, engraved p. 6 (as Sebastiano del Piombo)

Exhibited:
London, Cleveland House, periodically since 1806 (as Sebastiano del Piombo);
London, Bridgewater House, formerly Cleveland House, The Bridgewater and Ellesmere collections of Pictures, 1897, cat. no. 31 (as Sebastiano del Piombo)

Literature:
L. F. Dubois de Saint-Gelais, Description des tableaux du Palais Royal, avec la vie de peintres à la tete de leurs Ouvrages. Dédiée à Monseigneur le duc d’Orléans. Premier Prince du Sang, Paris 1727, pp. 447–448 (as ‘Sebastien de Venise, 2 pieds 4 pouces sur 1 pieds 10 pouces’);
J. Britton, Catalogue raisonné of the pictures belonging to the most honourable the Marquis of Stafford, in the Gallery of Cleveland House, London 1808, pp. 37–38, cat. no. 27 (as Sebastiano del Piombo);
W. Young Ottley, Engravings of the most noble the Marquis of Stafford’s collection of pictures, in London, arranged according to schools, and in chronological order with remarks on each picture, vol. I, London 1818, p. 8, no. 10 (as Sebastiano del Piombo […] assisted by the advise of Michelangelo);
W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting, with a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England since the French Revolution, vol. I, London 1824, p. 54, no. 2 (as ‘Sebastian del Piombo’);
C. M. Westmacott, British Galleries of Painting and Sculpture, comprising a general historical and critical catalogue, London 1824, pp. 184–185, cat. no. 27 (as Sebastiano del Piombo);
s. a., Catalogue of the Bridgewater and Ellesmere Collections of Pictures, exhibition catalogue, London 1897, p. 6, cat. no. 31 (as Sebastiano del Piombo, ‘supposed to be designed by Michel Angelo Buonarotti’)

We are grateful to Francesca Parrilla for endorsing the attribution of the present painting and for her help in cataloging this lot.

Only recently rediscovered, the present painting by Marcello Venusti relates to a design by Michelangelo: The inventory of Michelangelo’s Roman house in 1564, shortly after the artist’s death, records ‘un grande cartone con disegnata una Pietà e nove figure non finite’ [‘a large cartoon with a drawn Pietà and nine unfinished figures’]. This subject was probably created to be painted by Sebastiano del Piombo, as the two artists often worked together. However, as Sebastiano del Piombo’s version appears to be lost, Venusti’s interpretation of the subject constitutes a fundamental source of information about Michelangelo’s prototype. This work is of significance, as Parrilla has observed, because of a pentiment in Christ’s left hand which suggests that it is the primary version by the artist.

The present painting has a prestigious provenance, as it once formed part of the famous collection of Philippe II d’Orléans in Paris. Philippe II, Duke of Orléans was regent of France during the minority of Louis XV who formed a significant and important collection of over 500 paintings, mostly acquired between 1700 and his death in 1723.

After the French Revolution the collection was sold by Louis Philippe of Orléans, Philippe Égalité, and most of it was acquired by an English group of buyers led by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.