Lot 108: GIOVANNI BATTISTA NALDINI FIESOLE CIRCA 1537 - 1591 FLORENCE

THE PROPERTY OF FRENCH AND COMPANY

THE LAMENTATION

measurements note
3 by 9 in.; 7.6 by 22.9 cm.

oil on panel

PROVENANCE

Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd Bt., (1844 - 1901), Doughty House, Richmond, thence by descent to his son;
Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd Bt., (1868 - 1939), Doughty House, Richmond, thence by descent to his son;
Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th Bt., (1907 - 78), Doughty House, Richmond;
His sale, London, Sotheby's, June 25, 1958, lot 12, to Agnew's;
With Thos. Agnew and Sons, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, April 8, 1981, lot 100, to French and Company.

LITERATURE

T. Borenius, A Catalogue of the Paintings in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook, Bart., 1913, vol. I, p. 114, no. 99, (as by Parmigianino);
L. Fröhlich-Bume, in Burlington Magazine, vol. XLVI, London 1925, p. 88, (rejects attribution to Parmigianino);
M. W. Brockwell, Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond, London 1932, p. 68, under no. 99, (as attributed to Parmigianino).

NOTE

Giovanni Battista Naldini's career is marked by a high degree of artistic independence and originality. He was Jacopo Pontormo's leading student and artistic heir, and traveled between Rome and Florence throughout his career. The present panel is a superb example of Naldini's dense compositions, in which the figures are strongly delineated in contour.

This picture was purchased at the turn of the 20th century by Sir Frederick Cook, son of Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet and owner of Doughty House (see Provenance). It hung for more than fifty years in the Garden Gallery at Doughty House, on the wall facing the windows, where it was surrounded by paintings of the Italian school by such masters as Annibale Carracci, Giorgione, Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Tintoretto (see M.W. Brockwell in Literature). The Cook collection was formed in the 1840's, when Sir Francis Cook (1817-1901) was traveling on the continent and began purchasing ancient sculptures and some Italian pictures. Later in his collecting career, Sir Francis received advice from Sir Charles Robinson, who had been Surveyor of Pictures for Queen Victoria. At his death, Sir Francis' painting collection was bequeathed to his elder son, Frederick, who carried on the family's collecting tradition by adding the present picture, among many others, to the collection.