Titian’s monumental ‘Sacra Conversazione’ for sale at Sotheby’s

Titian
A Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria

Titian’s monumental ‘Sacra Conversazione’ for sale at Sotheby’s Sotheby’s 27 January 2011 auction of Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture in NewYork is led by Titian’s monumental ‘Sacra Conversazione’, a rare work by the artist still in private hands, expected to be sold for at least $15/20 million.]]>

January 7th 2011, source: Sotheby’s
The Titian is one of only a handful of multi-figured compositions by the 16th-century artist that remain in private hands, and is the most important to appear at auction since 1991. The painting was shown in public for the first time in more than 30years at Sotheby’s New York this past October, and has since been on exhibition at Sotheby’s galleries in Paris,Amsterdam and London

Painted circa 1560, ‘Sacra Conversazione’ is a mature work executed by Titian at the height of his artistic abilities.He had established his reputation as the leading artist of his time, and his profound use of color and innovativetechnique have since made him one of the most influential figures in the history of Western art. While historicallyreferred to as ‘The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine’, the present canvas’s subject lies within the more traditionalrepresentation of a ‘sacra conversazione’–a ‘holy conversation’ between the Madonna and Child and saints. Themain focus of the composition is the tender representation of the Madonna and Child as they engage SaintCatherine, and in particular the gesture between the female saint and the Christ Child.

Another highlight of the morning session from an Italian artist is The Virgin andChild by a Window: “Madonna of the Cherries” by Leonardo da Vinci’s mostfaithful and productive interpreter in Lombardy: Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, nicknamedGiampietrino (est. $700/900,000). Madonna of the Cherries represents one ofthe artist’s finest works, and certainly one of the best left in private hands. Thepainting is essential in understanding both Giampietrino’s career and his masterLeonardo’s time in Milan, whose presence fundamentally transformed 16th centuryLombard painting.

Portrait of a Lady, Three-Quarter Length, in a Green Velvet and OrangeDress and a Pearl-Embroidered Black Hat is an elegant portrait characteristic ofthe style Lucas Cranach the Younger perfected during his years in Wittenbergstudying with his father (est. $3/4 million). The sitter is very clearly from thearistocracy, and Cranach takes great pains to describe her costume’s splendid varietyof color and texture. From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, Pablo Picasso turnedto similar portraiture by Cranach in developing a series of linoleum cuts, and indeedthe contemporary aspect of the present painting is remarkable.