Lot 49: Marcantonio Bassetti (Verona 1586-1630)

The dead Christ supported by the Virgin and Mary Magdalen
oil on slate
14 5/8 x 11 1/4 in. (37.2 x 28.6 cm.)

Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 24 January, 2003, where purchased by the present owner.

PROPERTY OF THE DANIEL KATZ FAMILY TRUST (lot 49)
A proportion of the proceeds from the sale of this lot will be donated to the Tourette Syndrome (UK) Association

This beautiful work on slate by the Veronese-born Marcantonio Bassetti, was probably executed soon after his arrival in Rome around 1616, and reveals how quickly he was able to assimilate the varied influences that he had encountered during his youth into an elegant and refined style of his own. He was originally a pupil of Felice Brusasorci (1539/40-1605) in Verona, who was among the first artists to experiment with painting on slate and marble. Bassetti subsequently travelled to Venice, where he was profoundly influenced by the work of Tintoretto, Veronese and Jacopo Bassano.

It is uncertain exactly when he arrived in Rome; he is recorded there by 1616, although he may have travelled there with his compatriots Alessandro Turchi and Pasquale Ottino in 1614. Here he came into contact with the revolutionary art of Caravaggio and his followers, which he quickly absorbed, adding a dramatic quality and heightened chiaroscuro to his work. Bassetti flourished in Rome, gaining important commissions from some of the greatest patrons of the age, including the Cardinals Pietro Aldobrandini and Scipione Borghese. Along with Turchi he was engaged in the decoration of the Casino del Barco at the Villa Borghese (now lost), as well as frescoes in the Sala Regia in the Palazzo del Quirinale, where he worked under the direction of Carlo Saraceni and Giovanni Lanfranco. His debt to Caravaggio is evident in this period, and he even painted a copy of Caravaggio's now destroyed Incredulity of St. Thomas (Verona, Museo di Castelvecchio).

The present picture is one of a small number of surviving works on slate that Bassetti probably painted for his wealthy Roman patrons, in much the same way as Turchi's Raising of Lazarus of 1617, also on slate and of similar dimensions, which was painted for Cardinal Borghese (Rome, Galleria Borghese). Painting on slate was a speciality of Verona in this period, and the gleaming, dark ground that the medium afforded was well-suited to dramatically lit nocturnal scenes. Both Bassetti and Turchi would have learnt the technique from their first master, Brusasorci, and it obviously proved popular with their Roman patrons.

A highly worked preparatory drawing exists for Bassetti's picture, executed in pen and bistre wash with oil highlights on tinted paper (Windsor Castle, Royal Collection, inv. no. 4833, see A. Blunt, Venetian Drawings at Windsor Castle, London, 1957, p. 25, no. 7, pl. 8). The figure group is here fully resolved, yet on the finished slate Bassetti alters the lighting in subtle but important ways. Here the beautifully modelled figures of the dead Christ (the pose reminiscent of Laocoön from the Ancient marble discovered in 1506), the Virgin, who supports Him, and the angel mourning at His feet, are brightly lit against the polished, dark slate ground. The Magdalen appears in the background, dramatically cast in shadow, the light just catching the top of her head, holding Christ's left arm, which is also in shadow. In this passage he departs from his original drawing where light falls on both the arm and the Magdalen's forehead. By enlarging the shaded area Bassetti places Christ's body in a more naturalistic space and lends a greater sense of depth to the composition. The drapery is delicately modelled throughout and the scene is further enriched with the still-life elements of a basket and sheet on the left, the Magdalen's ointment jar on the stone ledge to the right and the rocks in the foreground.

The composition can be compared with Bassetti's Deposition (Rome, Galleria Borghese), of similar date, although slightly larger and on canvas. In this work the Virgin, again dressed in robes and a shawl over her head, helps to support the dead Christ as He is laid to rest in a sheet, while the Magdalen crouches down and kisses His feet. The figures here are set against a landscape, with sky and clouds visible beyond. The present work, on the other hand, by placing the figures against the dark, gleaming slate ground, enhances the religious drama of the scene and lends a timeless quality that adds to the pathos.

Tourette Syndrome (UK) Association is a registered charity that co-ordinates services to help sufferers and their families cope with Tourette's Syndrome and promotes the funding of research into its causes, a possible cure and treatments for the condition. To learn more about its work or to make a donation please visit www.tsa.org.uk

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.