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Caravaggio's Latest Discovery
Masterpieces of Art: Five Centuries of Painting and Sculpture
Salander-O’Reilly Galleries
New York City
through February 1, 2008
Title: Apollo the Lute Player,
Artist: Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio (Italian 1571-1610)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 96 x 121 cm
Private Collection
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
The newest Caravaggio is in New York. It seems odd to refer to something as new when it was created by an artist that
died in 1610. His life was short and his output relatively small in comparison to say Michelangelo or da Vinci. Only about 60 works
survive. That makes anything attributed to Caravaggio important. Apollo the Lute Player is in a private collection. The image
is familiar thanks to the second version of the subject that Caravaggio created, that work is part of the State Hermitage Museum in
St. Petersburgh.
The original was acquired in 1726 by The 3rd Duke of Beaufort. It spent
nearly 300 years in Badminton House, Somerset, unrecognized as anything more than a copy of the Hermitage version. That was
before it was cleaned. Now Sir Denis Mahon, Professor Mina Gregori and Dr Claudio Strinati have attributed it to Caravaggio.
Giovanni Baglione, Caravaggio's early biographer described the original work noting elements not found in the Hermitage version:
dewdrops scattered on the flowers and reflections of the window in the carafe of water.
Title: Saint Peter visiting Saint Agatha in Prison,
Artist: Simon Vouet (French 1590-1649), c. 1624
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 129.8 x 183.2 cm
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
The work will be on view in New York part of a joint collaboration between the location of the exhibit
Salander-O’Reilly Galleries and Whitfield Fine Art, London. Caravaggio's painting is in the second part of the exhibit and not available for sale.
Other works will be for sale such as Simon Vouet's Saint Peter visiting Saint Agatha in Prison. Regardless of whether or not the pieces are
available for purchase the exhibit features some important artists spanning the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
Title: Detail of Saint Peter visiting Saint Agatha in Prison,
Artist: Simon Vouet (French 1590-1649), c. 1624
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 129.8 x 183.2 cm
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
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Title: Madonna and Child, c. 1500
Artist: Alessandro Filipepi, called Botticelli (Italian 1444/5-1510)
Medium: Tempera on Panel
Dimensions: 35 x 26.3 cm
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
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Botticelli is Italian for 'little barrel'. Originally the nickname was given to Alessandro Filipepi's older and portly brother, eventually the
Filipepi family chose to use the name as their surname. Alessandro spent almost all of his life in his native town, Florence. His one trip
outside was to work at the Vatican's decoration of the Sistine chapel along with Ghirlandaio and Perugino. It suggests that his
artistic talent and fame had traveled well beyond Firenze. Botticelli's renditions of the Virgin and Child such as Madonna
and Child, c. 1500 were popular signified via the numerous versions of this important Renaissance subject. He also found
the time to create a series of drawings to illustrate an important work of literature, Dante's Divine Comedy. These were
created around 1490 on a commission from Botticelli's patron Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici. The artist didn't complete
the project and the illustrations are largely found in the Vatican's collection.
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Goya's Capricho with Five Heads was painted towards the end of his life. He had suffered a serious illness in 1793 that left him
deaf. He also suffered temporary paralysis and blindness but recovered from these two ailments allowing him to return to painting. Afterwards
his work took a macabre turn.
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Title: Capricho with Five Heads, c. 1821-3
Artist: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish 1746-1828)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 112 x 67 cm
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
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Capricho with Five Heads spent over 100 years in the Spanish Royal Collection. First in
the collection of King Fernando VII, before 1833, and then via descent until 1935 when the Infante Alfonso de Orléans y Borbón sold
the oil on canvas work.
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Title: Head of Christ,
Artist: Antonio Allegri called Correggio (Italian 1489-1534)
Medium: Oil on Panel
Dimensions: 35 x 42 cm
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
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Andrea Mantegna was a strong influence on Correggio. Religious subjects dominated his work. He was considered
one of the boldest artists of the High Renaissance; the time from 1500-1520 when the three greats Raphael, Michelangelo
and Raphael were at the pinnacle of their careers. Correggio earned respect for his use of foreshortening and for some of his dome decorations It illustrates Correggio's incredible skill.
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Like Correggio, II Parmigianino hailed from Parma. Francesco Maria Mazzola spent time in Rome which influenced his work. His style became grander. Upon returning to Parma he received a commission to paint frescoes in Saint Maria della Steccata. Failing to complete the work earned him some time in jail for breach of contract. Mythology was a popular subject with the artist and he was an exquisite etcher. He
was one of the first of the Italian artists to produce original etchings from his own paintings.
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Title: Saturn Disguised as a Winged Horse Abducting Philyra with Eros as Witness, c. 1531-35
Artist: Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, called Il Parmigianino (Italian 1503-40)
Medium: Oil on Panel
Dimensions: 75.6 x 64.1 cm
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
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Title: A Heroic Bust of Ottavio Farnese, c. 1556
Artist: Pietro Paolo Romano (Italian active c. 1552-70)
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: Height: 84 cm
Image Courtesy: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York
in association with Whitfield Fine Art, London
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Romano's sculpture A Heroic Bust of Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (1524-1586) is one
of the sculptures included in this intriguing exhibit. It is important given it's one of the few remaining over-life-size busts in bronze to have survived from the 16th century.
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Other highlights of the exhibition will be works by Tintoretto, Ludovico Carracci, Annibale Carracci,
Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony Van Dyck. All incredible artists but the opportunity to view the
latest work attributed Caravaggio should not be missed!
Masterpieces of Art: Five Centuries of Painting and Sculpture
Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York City:
through February 1, 2008
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