Self-Portrait On An Easel on:
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''Self-Portrait on an Easel'' is a 1603–1604 oil on panel painting by the Italian artist
''Self-Portrait on an Easel'' is a 1603–1604 oil on panel painting by the Italian artist Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino Carracci, Agostino and cousin Ludovico Carracci, Ludovico (with whom the Ca ...
, now displayed in Room 231 of the New Hermitage Building of the Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
in Saint Petersburg (inv. GE-148). The portrait from the work was repeated for an autograph self-portrait now in the Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...
, whilst a 1595 version of the Hermitage work is also in the Uffizi.
It shows a self-portrait of the artist resting on an easel, with a palette hanging from the easel, a dog and a cat behind the easel's legs and a woman's silhouette in front of a window at the top left hand corner. An initial underdrawing for the work is visible to the naked eye, showing that the original intention was for the portrait to occupy the whole panel. A sketch for the work (ca. 1603–1605, Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...
, Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
) shows that option for the work as well as that used in the final version, though the painting made several amendments to the background planned in the second half of the drawing.
The Hermitage Museum's 1958 catalogue dated the work to the 1590s, whilst Denis Mahon
Sir John Denis Mahon, (8 November 1910 – 24 April 2011) was a British collector and historian of Italian art. Considered to be one of the few art collectors who was also a respected scholar, he is generally credited, alongside Sacheverell ...
argued for around 1595 and others for around 1604. During its loan to Italy in 2006 the Hermitage and Uffizi experts carried out a joint study, comparing the work to the Uffizi self-portrait and arriving at a conclusive date of 1603–1604 (the same as the Windsor drawing).
The work's early history is unclear, though it was inventoried as being in the Crozat collection
Pierre Crozat (1665–1740) was a French financier, art patron and collector at the center of a broad circle of ''cognoscenti''; he was the brother of Antoine Crozat.
Biography
The brothers Crozat were born in Toulouse, France, the sons of a wea ...
in 1740, with a misattribution to Tintoretto
Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...
that was corrected by the time of another inventory in 1755. It was acquired by Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...
in 1772, placing it in its present home.
References