Premier Auction - Session II - February 4, 2023
Sat, Feb 4, 2023 09:00AM EST
Lot 889
After Cristofano Allori
Estimate: $1,000 - $2,000
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $25 |
| $100 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $200 |
| $3,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $2,000 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 |
(Italian, 1577-1621)
Judith with the Head of Holofernes, signed and inscribed verso indistinctly "Eugenie Cl" with a Florence address, after the 1613 work held by the Royal Collection Trust, oil on canvas, 56 x 45 in.; faux bois Art Nouveau gilt wood and composition frame, 65-1/2 x 54-5/8 in.
Note: Judith was a beautiful Jewish widow, who entered the tent of the Assyrian general Holofernes, decapitated him with his own sword, and brought his head back to her people. According to his biographer Baldinucci, Allori painted this work in part as an autobiographical account of his love affair with Maria de Giovanni Mazzafirri, which ended badly. The figure of Judith, Baldinucci claimed, resembles ‘La Mazzafirra’, the servant in the background, her mother, and the severed head of Holofernes is a portrait of the artist himself. -Royal Collection Trust
Provenance: John W. Stark House, Springfield, Tennessee [[europeanart]]
Condition
original stretcher and tacking edge, three patches verso, dark yellowed varnish, crackle, flaking, canvas slightly loose; frame with some losses and abrasions
