Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Holy Family with Saint Joseph Reading

Maker

(artist)
1696-1770

Title

Date of Production

c. 1755-1760

Medium

pen and brown ink, grey-brown wash on white laid paper, laid down on a historic secondary support

Dimensions

Height: 28.5 cm
Width: 21.5 cm

Accession Number

D.1978.PG.159

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

During the late 1750s Tiepolo produced nearly seventy drawings of the Holy Family. This freshly preserved example shows a particularly engaging composition, both monumental and tender. Mary cares for the Christ Child while Joseph reads a book. Washes of varying intensity model the figures, creating transparent shadows and deep pockets of shade on the luminous paper.

Provenance

mounted by the artist in an album and given to his son, Giuseppe Tiepolo, friar in the convent of the Somaschi, Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, 1762; kept in convent of the Somaschi until its suppression, 1810; acquired from there by Count Leopoldo Cicognara (1767-1834); acquired from him in an exchange by Antonio Canova (1754-1822); by descent to Monsignor Giovanni Battista Sartori-Canova (1775-1858); purchased from him by Francesco Pesaro, Venice; purchased from him by Edward Cheney, Badger Hall, Shropshire (1803-1884),1842; by descent to Colonel Alfred Capel Cure, Blake Hall, Ongar, Essex, (1826-1896); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 29 April 1885, lot 1024; purchased there by E. Parsons & Sons (London); H. Clinton Baker, Esq.; his sale, Sotheby's (London), 31 May 1932, lot 16; purchased there by Tomás Harris (1908-1964); Dr Carl Robert Rudolf, London (1884-1974), L. 2811b; his anonymous sale, Sotheby's (London), 2 November 1949, lot 39; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Count Antoine Seilern (1901-1978) (£340); Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Exhibition History

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012

All Spirit and Fire - Oil Sketches by Tiepolo, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 23/02/2006-29/05/2006 ...More

The Value of Art, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 24/06/1999-30/08/1999

Mantegna to Cezanne - Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 24/02/1983-19/06/1983

The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/07/1981-26/01/1982

Exhibition of Venetian paintings and drawings, Matthiesen Gallery, London, 1939

Catalogue of an exhibition of pictures, drawings, furniture and other objects of art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1936-37 (winter) ...Less

Literature

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
no. 37

The Value of Art, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1999
unpaginated
ill.

Pavanello, G., Canova collezionista di Tiepolo, Possagno 1996
p. 45 ...More

Pedrocco, Filippo, I disegni di Giandomenico Tiepolo, Milan 1990

Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
no. 72, p. 69
ill. on p. 83

The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), Courtauld Gallery, London, 1981-1982
cat. no. 151

Seilern, Count Antoine, Italian paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London, SW7, London 1959; II
no. 159
pl. CXIX ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: lower centre: three crescent moons, above are letters but unable to discern (doesn’t seem to match the examples in Heawood but typical of Venetian 18th-century paper).

Collector's mark: Support (historic), Recto: lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Dr Carl Robert Rudolf (L.2811b).

Inscription: Support (historic), Verso: centre, graphite: “120”; right of centre, graphite, circled: “1”; lower right corner, graphite, circled: “1”.

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection