Italian school, Carlo Cignani (1628-1719): Madonna of the Rosary, oil on canvas, 17th C.

Work: 46,2 x 34 cm

Frame: 65,5 x 53 cm

Expertise by Dr. Beatrice Buscaroli Fabbri (30.03.2019), author of the catalogue raisonné 'Carlo Cignani - Affreschi Dipinti Disegni' (Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 1991): the work is an autograph copy of the Madonna del Rosario, oil on copper, housed at the Uffizi Gallery (inv. 1133-1890; B. Buscaroli Fabbri, cat. 46, 46 x 34 cm). The work might be dated, as for the Uffizi version, between Cignani's sejourn in Parma and the end of his time in Bologna (1678-1683). 

A comparison can be made with 'Samson and Delilah' (Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Bologna, inv. nr. 434; B. Buscaroli Fabbri, cat. 49) by Carlo Cignani (Bologna, 1628-1719), in which Delilah’s face shares a lot in common with that one of the Mother in the present painting.

Another comparison might be made with the face of the Mother and her connection with the Child in the 'Madonna between Angels' (Graf von Schönbron’sche Schlossverwaltung, Pommersfelden, inv. nr. 92; B. Buscaroli Fabri, cat. 65) dated at the end of the XVII century.

A drawing housed at Chatsworth House, 'Head of a Woman' (Devonshire Collection; grey chalk on white paper; B. Buscaroli Fabbri, cat. 124, signed C. Cignani) and a cartoon fragment housed at The Met, with a drawing of the 'Head of a Young Woman in Three-Quarter View Facing Left' (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. nr. 66.14; brush and brown wash, highlighted with white and cream gouache four glued sheets of light tan paper; signed Marc [Ant?] Francischini, but attributed by The Met itself and by some scholars to Cignani) showing the typical way of rendering women’s faces of the Master and of his pupils.

Provenance: Private collection, Ghent.