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Holy Family with St Anne, the Baptist and Zacharias
Sebastiano Conca1723
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Although he trained in Naples under Francesco Solimena, Conca's career was based mostly in Rome, where he worked on a succession of important commissions for frescoes and altarpieces, while his smaller easel paintings were snapped up by collectors around Europe. This is a sketch for an altarpiece by Conca, signed and dated 1723, formerly in the Ortolani collection, Rome.
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Details
- Title: Holy Family with St Anne, the Baptist and Zacharias
- Creator Lifespan: 1680 - 1764
- Date: 1723
- Physical Dimensions: w390 x h492 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil
- Work Notes: A sketch for the altarpiece by Conca, signed and dated 1723, formerly in the Ortolani collection, Rome. There is a repetition (formerly in the Art Museum, Seattle) that bears a false signature and date J.Mola 1657.
- Work Nationality: Italian
- Support: Canvas
- Provenance: ?Paris, Crozat coll., 1740; London, Noel Desenfans, 1785-1807: London, Christie's, Desenfans sale, 11 May 1785, lot 23 (as Maratta); London, Christie's, Desenfans private sale, 8ff Apr. 1786, lot 296; London, Sir Francis Bourgeois, 1807-1811; Bourgeois Bequest, 1811.
- Further Information: The work depicts Christ as a child, shepherding his flock of sheep. The source of the subject is a passage in the Gospel of Saint John: "I am the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep." It serves as a metaphor for his future role as shepherd of the faithful, for whom he would give his life.
- Artist: Conca, Sebastiano
- Acquisition Method: Bourgeois, Sir Peter Francis (Bequest, 1811)
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