id: 132647
accession number: 1955.165
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1955.165
updated: 2020-11-04 20:41:44.717000
Sketch for "The Assumption of the Virgin" (for St. James, Zbraslav, near Prague)?, c. 1744. Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, 1682-1754). Oil on canvas; framed: 85 x 51.5 x 6.5 cm (33 7/16 x 20 1/4 x 2 9/16 in.); unframed: 71.6 x 38.2 cm (28 3/16 x 15 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. N. Lester Farnacy 1955.165
title: Sketch for "The Assumption of the Virgin" (for St. James, Zbraslav, near Prague)?
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1744
creation date earliest: 1739
creation date latest: 1749
current location:
creditline: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. N. Lester Farnacy
copyright:
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culture: Italy, 18th century
technique: oil on canvas
department: European Painting and Sculpture
collection: P - Italian 18th Century
type: Painting
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, 1682-1754) - artist
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measurements: Framed: 85 x 51.5 x 6.5 cm (33 7/16 x 20 1/4 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 71.6 x 38.2 cm (28 3/16 x 15 1/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Venetian Tradition
opening date: 1956-11-08T05:00:00
The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* CMA, 1956: "The Venetian Tradition," cat. no. 28.
Akron Art Insitute, October 1-31, 1957: "Masterpieces Series,"
Balitmore (Maryland) Museum of Art, October 22-December 8, 1968: " From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works of European and American Artists," cat. no. 38, repr.
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PROVENANCE
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
date: 1955-
footnotes:
citations:
Dr. and Mrs. N. Lester Farnacy, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: UNtil 1955
footnotes:
citations:
(Alessandro Morandotti [1909-1979] Rome)
date: ?
footnotes:
citations:
Hans Dietrich Gronau [1904-1951] or Carmen Groneau [1910-1999], London1
date: 1950
footnotes:
* 1The price list for the 1950 Sotheby's sale lists "Gronau" as the buyer of this painting. Gronau could refer either to Hans Dietrich Gronau, an art historian, or his wife, Carmen, who would later become head of the Old Master Paintings department at Sotheby's, London. A "Mrs. Gronau" appears in the Getty Provenance Index database in the provenance of a sculpture in the National Gallery, London.
citations:
* Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. June 7, 1950.
page number:
url:
(Mrs. Tancred Borenius sale, Sotheby’s, London, June 7, 1950, lot 126, sold to Gronau)
date: 1950
footnotes:
citations:
* Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. June 7, 1950.
page number:
url:
Anne-Marie Rüneberg Borenius, Coombe Bissett, Wiltshire, consigned to Sotheby’s
date: 1948-1950
footnotes:
citations:
* Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. 1950.
page number:
url:
Tancred Borenius [1885-1948], London, by descent to his wife, Anne-Marie Rüneberg1
date: Until 1948
footnotes:
* 1In 1955, art dealer Francis Matthiesen wrote to CMA curator Henry Sayles Francis: “I remember the “Assumption of the Virgin” really well - I saw it many times in Tancred Borenius’ house.”
citations:
* Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. 1950.
page number:
url:
* Francis Matthiesen, letter to Henry Sayles Francis, Nov. 9, 1955, in CMA curatorial file.
page number:
url:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
According to Roman Catholic theology, the Assumption is the movement of the Virgin Mary's body and soul into heaven. Thus the central figure of the Virgin dominates this scene of the Assumption, outstretching her arms and supported by two angels as she ascends into heaven. Below, saints surround the Virgin's tomb. St. Peter reaches for the foot of the ascending Virgin, suggesting a connection between heaven and earth. Giovanni Battista Piazzetta created this work as a sketch for his larger altarpiece commissioned in 1743 for the Church of St. James in Zbraslav, near Prague. The Assumption of the Virgin is a rare oil sketch by Piazzetta, and the larger composition adheres closely to this model. One difference between the sketch and the altarpiece is that the saints are illuminated more in the preliminary work. A divine light shines on the faces of the Virgin and the figures below her. Above the other figures, the Virgin appears remote and focuses on heaven as she looks upwards and beyond the painting's borders. The grouping of the figures in the center of this painting creates a vast surrounding space which fittingly gives this altarpiece sketch a sense of monumentality.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 143
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n167
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 143
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n167
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 142
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n162
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.
page number: Mentioned: p. 389-391; Reproduced: p. 390
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1955.165/1955.165_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1955.165/1955.165_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1955.165/1955.165_full.tif