European Art and Old Masters

Literature

Piers Baker-Bates, "Copies and Versions in Sebastiano's Art? The Christ Carrying the Cross" in Sebastiano del Piombo and Michelangelo: The Compass and the Mirror, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, 2021, fig. 18, p. 70 (discussed and illustrated).

Note

The little we know from del Piombo comes from Vasari's famous Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects. According to the art historian, Sebastiano spent most of his career in Rome, where he studied under Bellini and Giorgione before becoming one of the main painters of Pope Clement VII, who awarded him the title "Piombatore" in 1531, thus giving him access to the papal seal (hence his nickname). While in Rome, Piombo also fell under the influence of Michelangelo, whom he befriended and who taught him a certain sense of monumentality.

A spate of recent public sales have thrown up Vasari's view of Sebastiano's artistic practice and proved that we only had access to partial elements of his biography. In many ways, the mystery surrounding the artist's career is reflected in the present work–a view of St. Anthony Abbot in a landscape. Several versions of this image exist, two of which are considered to be original oils by del Piombo: one, an oil on panel at the Château de Compiègne in France; the other originally in private British hands until its recent sale at Christie's in 2021. Our version closely resembles the latter, as it shares the same dimensions, medium and cursive lettering in the open book (with the exception of a small hand mark on the first page of the book). The background landscape differs however, and is in fact unique among the several other copies known. One of them is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, formerly in the John G. Johnson Collection. At first given to Sebastiano himself, its attribution has since been revised and linked to Girolamo Muziano, a Mannerist follower of Piombo who is known for having copied his work extensively.

Such an attribution could not be applied to our piece, whose format, delicate handling, and overall close resemblance with the original version suggests a certain inventiveness, most likely linked to an important commission. While its past history is not exactly known, it fits within a much larger question about Sebastiano's career development and serves to illustrate the context surrounding artists in 16th century Rome, a time during which Masters rarely worked alone, and were instead assisted, and supported, by an active, and brilliant studio. This appears to be the case of our painting, which likely originated from the Studio of the artist to respond to the needs of an important commissioner (likely from Northern Europe judging from the specificity of the landscape), thus begging the question of the level of Sebastiano's involvement with it, and the extent to which he oversaw, and regimented the copies made after his original compositions.

We wish to thank Professor Tosini, Mr. Joannides, Mr. Mazzotta, and Dr. Baker-Bates for their generous assistance with the cataloguing of the present Lot.