Lot 128: MATTEO ROSSELLI

MATTEO ROSSELLI FLORENCE 1578 - 1650 JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES oil on canvas 74 1/2 by 55 in.; 189.2 by 139. 8 cm.

F. Baldassari, La Pittura Del Seicento a Firenze: Indice degli Artisti e delle loro Opere, Milan 2009, p. 653;
S. Bellesi, Catalogo dei Pittori Fiorentini del '600 e '700, Florence 2009, vol. I, p. 241, reproduced, vol. III, p. 269, fig. 1413.

Private family collection, Germany;
With Piacenti Art Gallery, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 17 December 1999, lot 55;
There purchased by the present collector.

The present work, executed by Matteo Rosselli during the early stages of his career, continues a long standing Florentine tradition in his depiction of Judith and Holofernes. Throughout the seventeenth century, the story of Judith and Holofernes, which told of the Jewish widow who decapitated an Assyrian general by sneaking into his camp, seducing, and intoxicating him, served as an often repeated subject amongst Florentine artists. Its popularity was very clearly rooted in a connection between the subject, and Florentine civic pride, which may have possibly stemmed from Donatello's sculpture of 1460, a masterpiece of the same subject. Donatello's work, which stood outside the Palazzo Vecchio, was inscribed on its pedestal: "Kingdoms fall through luxury [sin], cities rise through virtues. Behold the neck of pride severed by the hand of humility." From this moment, the image of Judith was used as a metaphor for the protectors of Florence, the Medici, and subsequently for the civic power and pride of Florence. It was also quite obviously seen as a symbol of the heroism of women, evidenced by the self-portraits of Lavinia Fontana and Artemesia Gentileschi as Judith.

As a native Florentine, Rosselli would have been well aware of the importance of the subject, and has here executed a boldly colored, yet compositionally elegant picture. This is a highly representative example from Rosselli's early career, during which time he excelled in the depiction of richly colored, and sumptuously detailed fabrics, as can be seen here in Judith's luxurious robe. A very similar fabric design, also executed in this detailed style, can be seen in Rosselli's Adoration of the Magi (offered New York, Christie's, 15 May 1996, lot 127). When last sold, Francesca Baldassari dated the picture to circa 1600, a moment when Rosselli was still influenced by his teachers Jacopo Ligozzi (1546-1627) and Gregorio Pagani (1558-1605). By 1608, Rosselli had become one of the major artists working in Florence, and he was even commissioned to work for the Medici. It was at this point that his influence within Florence was at its height, a point proven by the various painters working under him, including Jacopo Vignali and Lorenzo Lippi. One can see in these latter artists' work the influence of Rosselli, as depicted here in Judith's elongated face, heavy eye lids, and pensive expression.