Lot 31: GIOVANNI COLI, FILIPPO GHERARDI

GIOVANNI COLI, FILIPPO GHERARDI LUCCA 1636 - 1681 LUCCA 1643 - 1704 ELIEZAR AND REBECCA oil on canvas 45 1/2 by 56 3/4 in.; 115.6 by 144.2 cm.

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 30 January 1998, lot 42;
There purchased by the present collector.

Giovanni Coli and Filippo Gherardi's artistic careers were unusual among Italian Baroque painters in that a good portion of their careers was spent together producing collaborative works. They were both born in Lucca and studied there with Filippo's father, Sebastiano Gherardi, and then Pietro Paolini before moving to Rome where they trained with Pietro da Cortona. Around 1662 they traveled to Venice where they remained for a number of years and worked primarily on the canvases for the ceiling of the library of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore. Their work assimilated the colors and techniques of the Venetian school, particularly reflecting the influence of Veronese. They eventually returned to Rome where they worked on a number of projects, most notably the frescoes in the gallery of the Palazzo Colonna. In 1678, they were back in Lucca to paint a fresco, The Glory of the Trinity, for the cathedral which Gherardi completed alone following Coli's death in 1681.

The subject of this painting is taken from Genesis 24: 61-65 and represents the arrival of Rebecca at Abraham's house in Canaan where she will meet her future husband, Isaac, for the first time. Abraham had sent his servant Eliezar to find a worthy wife for his son and, after praying for guidance, he encountered Rebecca at a well where she offered to give him and his camels water. He gave her jewelry and other gifts and received hospitality from her family before returning with her to Canaan.