Lot 168: CHARLES MELLIN NANCY CIRCA 1600 - 1649 ROME JUDITH WITH THE HEAD OF HOLOFERNES

oil on canvas

CATALOGUE NOTE

Mellin was born in Nancy, but lived in Italy from circa 1618 until his death in Rome in 1649. He was influenced by Italian artists such as Mola and Lanfranco, but more strongly by his countrymen Nicolas Poussin and, above all, Simon Vouet. This picture may be compared with Mellin's painting dating from the 1630s of Love and Faith, formerly in a private collection in Mainz, which was engraved in reverse by Claude Charles (see J. Thuillier, in Claude Lorrain e i pittori lorenesi in Italia nel XVII secolo, exhibition catalogue, Rome 1982, pp. 244-6, no. 83, reproduced with engraving facing page).

84.2 by 68.2 cm.; 33 1/8 by 26 7/8 in.