Lot 2009 Dα

With a series of collector's seals on the reverse; the old relined canvas with an inscription probably transferred from the original canvas, including a date and attribution to Giorgione, using the Venetian variant of the artist's name ("Zorzon MDX").
This painting, once in royal Dutch possession and sold at the famous auction in Amsterdam in 1850, is a reiteration of a well-known and much discussed composition, which in the past was attributed to Giorgione and Titian and has survived in several versions and copies. Paul Joannides sees the Hampton Court version, in the possession of the British royal family, as the original Titian. Joannides interprets the motif, controversially interpreted by art historical researchers, as "Cornelia, fainting in the arms of Pompeius". The same interpretation was given by Titian's contemporary, the art writer Carlo Ridolfi, in his “Meraviglie“, written in the 16th century (see Paul Joannides: Titian to 1518, The Assumption of Genius, New Haven & London 2001, p. 252).
Several versions of this popular and widely disseminated depiction of the Man of Sorrows by Andrea Solario exist, with the works in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig being the most finely painted examples (cf. David Alan Brown: Andrea Solario, Mailand 1986, p. 184ff).