Lot 30: Ription Marco d'Oggiono (Oggiono c. 1475 - 1530

Ription Marco d'Oggiono (Oggiono c. 1475 - 1530 Milan), attributed to Christ as the Redeemer, oil on panel, 43.5 x 33.5 cm, framed, (Wo) The sacristy of the Chiesa della Salute in Venice preserves another version of the present painting that has traditionally been attributed to Marco d' Oggiono (Bertarelli, p. 280). In 1989 Sedini, in his monograph on D'Oggiono, questioned the attribution of the painting in Santa Maria della Salute (Sedini, cat. 30). He acknowledged the composition to be satisfactory, but due to weaknesses in the execution and certain stylistic features he did not consider the attribution to be justified. The present painting is probably the hitherto unknown original that served as a model for the painting in the Chiesa della Salute. Due to the traditional attribution of the Venetian version, the present painting may be assigned to the oeuvre of Marco d'Oggio While our painting shows a delicately drawn, elegant face with great eyes characteristic of Leonardo's students and particularl of D'Oggiono, the facial features in the version in Venice are rather crude. Nevertheless the relationship of the two paintings is obvious, as is suggested by the composition, the curled hair, the clothing decorated with banderoles, and the drapery. It is particularly the banderoles in our work that are superior to those in the painting in Venice. Whereas in our painting the clothing is decorated with meticulously executed christological verses, the floral border in the Venetian painting, although similar at first glance, is rather flat and plain, constituting a tremendous simplification of an extraordinary composition. Among Leonardo's numerous students, Marco d'Oggiono, who came from Milan, was one of his most faithful followers. In his early period, he executed several copies of his master's works and in his paintings frequently quoted the latter's compositions. Countless depictions of the blessing or redeeming Christ that originated in the master's circle go back to Leonardesque examples. In D'Oggiono's oeuvre there are several depictions of the Redeemer as well. The juvenile Christ in three-quarter profile rendered in the present composition is thus a citation of the young Christus Salvator Mundi, although, because of the plain and impressive conception of the bust, the picture represents an autonomous and extremely rare type. Literature: Comp. Luigi Vittorio Bertarelli, Guida d'Italia - Le tre Venezie, vol. I, Milan 1920; Domenico Sedini, Marco d'Oggiono, Milan 1989; N.N., The Legacy of Leonardo, Painters in Lombardy 1490 - 1530, Milan 1998