id: 132647 accession number: 1955.165 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1955.165 updated: 2025-04-22 11:02:32.827000 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: --- culture: Italy, 18th century technique: oil on canvas department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: P - Italian 18th Century type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, 1682–1754) - artist --- 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: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Venetian Tradition opening date: 1956-11-08T05:00:00 The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957). title: From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works of European and American Artists opening date: 1968-10-22T04:00:00 From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works of European and American Artists. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 22-December 8, 1968). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'CMA, 1956: "The Venetian Tradition," cat. no. 28.', 'opening_date': '1956-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Akron Art Insitute, October 1-31, 1957: "Masterpieces Series,"', 'opening_date': '1931-10-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': '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.', 'opening_date': '1968-10-22T00:00:00'} --- 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: (Mrs. Tancred Borenius sale, Sotheby’s, London, June 7, 1950, lot 126, sold to Gronau) date: 1950 footnotes: citations: Anne-Marie Rüneberg Borenius, Coombe Bissett, Wiltshire, consigned to Sotheby’s date: 1948-1950 footnotes: citations: 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: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. June 7, 1950. page number: url: Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. June 7, 1950. page number: url: Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. 1950. page number: url: 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: Francis, Henry. "Piazetta's Model for 'The Assumption of the Virgin.'" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 8 (October 1955): 189-191. page number: Mentioned: p. 189; Reproduced: p. 190 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142065 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: --- 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