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Holy Family (recto)

Maker

Alonso Berruguete (artist)
1488-1561

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1600-1699

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
died 1627

Title

Holy Family (recto)

Date of Production

(circa) 1537

Medium

traces of black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash (recto), pen and brown ink (verso), on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 20.8 cm
Width: 12.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.119

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This fluently executed drawing shows the youthful Virgin Mary holding the sleeping Christ Child in her lap; the elderly Joseph stands in the background, leaning heavily on his stick. The group corresponds closely to the central figures of Berruguete’s sculpted altarpiece in the church of Santiago, Valladolid. The study seems to precede the sculpture, as the draughtsman developed the volume of the three-dimensional forms, leaving the details to be resolved at a later stage.

Provenance

Sir William Stirling Maxwell, London (1818-1878); by descent to his son, Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Glasgow (1866-1956); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 15 - 16 February 1921, lot 249; presumably purchased there by E. Parsons & Sons (London); their sale, cat. 38, 1921, lot 380 (as by Cotán, with D.1952.RW.118); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt (1875-1952), L.2228b (£1.6); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

The Spanish Line - From Ribera to Picasso, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 13/10/2011-15/01/2012

Literature

Dickerson III, C. D. and Mark McDonald (eds.), Alonso Berruguete: First Sculptor of Renaissance Spain, NGA, Washington, Meadows Museum, Dallas; New Haven and London, Yale University Press 2019
p. 185, p. 193, cat no. D. 33
Illus. 192
Attribution doubted

Véliz, Zahira, Spanish Drawings in the Courtauld Gallery: complete catalogue, London, 2011
no. 2
Illus. p. 55

Angulo Iñiguez, Diego and Alfonso E. Perez, A Corpus of Spanish Drawings, New York 1975-1988; 4 vols.
p. 28, no. 68
Illus. pl. XXII

Inscriptions

Watermark: Mount (removed, in portfolio from P&D), Recto: right centre edge, lower fragment of a shield above “4” above monogram “WR”.

Inscription: Verso: lower centre over figure’s legs, graphite: “Roelas”. Mount (removed, in portfolio from P&D),Recto: lower left, grey ink, perhaps Stirling Maxwell's hand?: “Fray Jn Sanchez Cotán”. Mount (removed, in portfolio from P&D), Verso: lower left, graphite: “3”; lower right, graphite: “3 5”.

Collector's mark: Mount (removed, in portfolio from P&D), Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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