Lot 23: The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Attributed to Ottavio Semino (Genoa circa 1530-1604 Milan) The Feeding of the Five Thousand with inscription '[...]oril Luini Milanese' black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, on two joined sheets 14 3/8 x 20½ in. (366 x 520 mm.)

Dr. Cramer, Oxford; his sale, Oxford, 1847 according to an inscription (verso).

FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION


Ottavio Semino was a member of an important family of Genoese painters but spent most of his career in Milan where he painted frescoes and altarpieces in Palazzo Marini, Sant'Angelo, Santa Maria delle Grazie and San Marco. In 1567 he decorated the refectory of the Certosa di Pavia. His drawing syle was first ellucidated by Professor Giulio Bora ('Nota su Ottavio Semino a Milano e la sua produzione disegnativa', in Per Luigi Grassi. Disegno et disegni, Rimini, 1998, pp. 168-83). The present drawing can be compared to a Martyrdom of Saint Andrew now at the Louvre (inv. 9560).
We are grateful to Professor Bora for having kindly suggested the attribution to Semino.