Lot 66: Giovanni Bernardino Azzolino (Cefalu, Sicily c. 1572-1645 Naples)

The Ascension oil on canvas 951/2 x 621/2 in. (242.5 x 158.8 cm.) PROVENANCE The Fundacion Gabriel d'Annunzio; Christie's, New York, 7 October 1993, lot 82 ($34,500 to the present owners). NOTES Both a painter and sculptor by profession, Azzolini was a native of Sicily. Together with the painter Luigi Rodriguez, he travelled to Naples, where he became very active painting for local churches. Among Azzolino's most noted works is the altarpiece of the 'Madonna of the Rosary and the fifteen Mysteries' (1612-4) in the Chiesa di San Vincenzo Ferreri, Naples. The closest work to the present lot is the altarpiece of The Madonna and Child with Saints (c. 1610) in the Chiesa del Ges— Nuova, Naples. For further information on the artist, see F. Ferrante, 'Aggiunte all' Azzolino', Prospertiva, 1979, no. 19, pp. 16 ff. We are grateful to Professor Riccardo Lattuada for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph, he considers it to be one of the artist's masterpieces.