Description
Claude Beissonat (active in Naples and Spain in the last quarter of the 17th century) Immaculate Conception Carved ivory group Signed: "CLA.BEISSONAT.F.NEA" (for Claudius Beissonat Fecit Neapolis) Total height: 60 cm (group height: 55 cm) on a hexagonal base probably made of ebony and fragments of domestic ox horn (bos torus domesticus) painted in imitation of sea turtle shell (height: 5 cm). Weight: 9.8 kg Missing metal halo, angels fluttering on either side of the Virgin missing, original mounting fixing holes filled, left angel wings restored, angel on front repositioned later Provenance: believed to have come from the collection of the Comte de Miribel (Villars-Bonnot); private collection in Lyon, purchased from the previous owner in the 1990s. CITES certificate N°FR2306901173-K. Related works : -Claude Beissonat, Immaculate Conception, ivory, H. 66.2 Florence, Palazzo Pitti, inv. Bg Avori 1879 n°136 ; -Claude Beissonat, Assumption of the Virgin, ivory, signed, Madrid, Palacio de El Pardo; -Attributed to Claude Beissonat, Immaculate Conception, last quarter of 17th century, ivory, H. 68.5 cm, Sotheby's sale, May 18, 2004, lot 425. Related literature: -Luigi Coiro, 'Algardi e Napoli', in La cappella dei Signori Franzoni magnificamente architettata. Alessandro Algardi, Domenico Guidi e uno spazio del Seicento genovese, 2013, pp.157-181 ; -Ss dir. E.D.Schmidt and M. Sframeli, Diafane Passioni Avori barocchi dalle corti europee, cat. exp., Florence, Palazzo Pitti, July 16-November 3, 2013, Sillabe, 2013, notices 110 and 111 pp.304-306 ; -Marjorie Trusted, Baroque & Later Ivories, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, 2013, cat. no. 266, pp. 274, 5 ; -Luigi Coiro, "Aniello Perrone scultore di legnami famosissimo e il Calvario di Santa Maria di Montesanto a Napoli 2011", in Ricerche sul '600 napoletano. Saggi e documenti 2010-2011, pp.7-23 ; -M.M. Estella, "Sculturas italianas de marfil en España de los siglos XVI al XVIII con nuevas noticias sobre Gualterio, Beissonat y Caffieri", in Barocke Kunststückh. Festschrift für Christian Theuerkauff, a cura di R. Marth, M. Trusted, München 2011, pp. 22-29, fig.3 and 5 ; -S. Starita, Andrea Aspreno Falcone e la scultura della metà del Seicento a Napoli, doctoral thesis held in 2010-2011, pp.22 ff ; -Isabelle Di Liddo, La circolazione della scultura lignea barocca nel Mediterraneo. Napoli, la Puglia e la Spagna. Una indagine comparata sul ruollo delle botteghe, Roma, Nicola Salcillo, 2008, p.49-52 ; -A. Garcia Sanz, M.L. Sanchez Hernandez Guia, Monasterios de las descalzas reales y de la Encarnacion, Madrid, 2008, p.73 ; -Prosperi Adriano, "L'immaculée Conception à Séville et la fondation sacrée de la monarchie espagnole", in Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses, 87ème année, n°4, Oct.-déc. 2007, pp.435-467; -A.M. Pedrocchi, "Claudio Beissonat", in G. Morello, V. Francia, R. Fusco, Una donna vestita di sole: l'Immacolata Concezione nelle opere dei grandi maestri, cat. exp., Vatican City, 2005, Milano, Federico Motta, 2005, p. 261. -Da una dimora di piazza farnese vol.II from a private collection located in piazza farnese, Rome vol.II catalog of [Sale] Sotheby's, lot 425, May 18, 2004 ; -Margarita Estella, La escultura barroca de marfil en España. Esculturas europeas y coloniales, Madrid, 1984, 92. cat n°112, n°103-106 pp.70-73 ; -S. Cassani, Civiltà del Seicento a Napoli, cat. exp. exhibition, Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, October 24 1984-April 14 1985, Naples, Museo Pignatelli, December 6 1984-April 14 1985, Naples, Museo nazionale Aragona Pignatelli, 1984, t. II, pp.188 and 333 ; -Francesco Abbate, La Scultura del Seicento a Napoli, Torino, Scriptorium, 1997; -Alfonso E. Pérez Sanchez, Nicola Spinosa, Jusepe de Ribera 1591-1652, cat exp, New York, The Metropolitan museum of art, September 18-November 29, 1992, New York, The Metropolitan museum of art, 1992, p.34 and notice 42 p. 121. This Immaculate Conception in ivory is a true masterpiece in terms of its material, its extraordinary dimensions and its extremely high quality of execution. It illustrates the triumph of this religious doctrine in 17th-century Europe, long before it was formalized as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. This highly prized devotional object, designed in Spanish-ruled Naples, is signed by Claude Beissonat. The work of this Franche Comté-born artist, still little known, has been progressively informed by successive discoveries and attributions over the last twenty years. This Immaculate Conception is undoubtedly a milestone in his production, revealing the extraordinary talent of an exceptional master ivory-maker. "Todo el mundo en general a vozes, Reyna escogida, diga que soys concebida sin pecado original'"
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Claude Beissonat (active in Naples and Spain in the last quarter of the 17th century) Immaculate Conception Carved ivory group Signed: "CLA.BEISSONAT.F.NEA" (for Claudius Beissonat Fecit Neapolis) Total height: 60 cm (group height: 55 cm) on a hexagonal base probably made of ebony and fragments of domestic ox horn (bos torus domesticus) painted in imitation of sea turtle shell (height: 5 cm). Weight: 9.8 kg Missing metal halo, angels fluttering on either side of the Virgin missing, original mounting fixing holes filled, left angel wings restored, angel on front repositioned later Provenance: believed to have come from the collection of the Comte de Miribel (Villars-Bonnot); private collection in Lyon, purchased from the previous owner in the 1990s. CITES certificate N°FR2306901173-K. Related works : -Claude Beissonat, Immaculate Conception, ivory, H. 66.2 Florence, Palazzo Pitti, inv. Bg Avori 1879 n°136 ; -Claude Beissonat, Assumption of the Virgin, ivory, signed, Madrid, Palacio de El Pardo; -Attributed to Claude Beissonat, Immaculate Conception, last quarter of 17th century, ivory, H. 68.5 cm, Sotheby's sale, May 18, 2004, lot 425. Related literature: -Luigi Coiro, 'Algardi e Napoli', in La cappella dei Signori Franzoni magnificamente architettata. Alessandro Algardi, Domenico Guidi e uno spazio del Seicento genovese, 2013, pp.157-181 ; -Ss dir. E.D.Schmidt and M. Sframeli, Diafane Passioni Avori barocchi dalle corti europee, cat. exp., Florence, Palazzo Pitti, July 16-November 3, 2013, Sillabe, 2013, notices 110 and 111 pp.304-306 ; -Marjorie Trusted, Baroque & Later Ivories, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, 2013, cat. no. 266, pp. 274, 5 ; -Luigi Coiro, "Aniello Perrone scultore di legnami famosissimo e il Calvario di Santa Maria di Montesanto a Napoli 2011", in Ricerche sul '600 napoletano. Saggi e documenti 2010-2011, pp.7-23 ; -M.M. Estella, "Sculturas italianas de marfil en España de los siglos XVI al XVIII con nuevas noticias sobre Gualterio, Beissonat y Caffieri", in Barocke Kunststückh. Festschrift für Christian Theuerkauff, a cura di R. Marth, M. Trusted, München 2011, pp. 22-29, fig.3 and 5 ; -S. Starita, Andrea Aspreno Falcone e la scultura della metà del Seicento a Napoli, doctoral thesis held in 2010-2011, pp.22 ff ; -Isabelle Di Liddo, La circolazione della scultura lignea barocca nel Mediterraneo. Napoli, la Puglia e la Spagna. Una indagine comparata sul ruollo delle botteghe, Roma, Nicola Salcillo, 2008, p.49-52 ; -A. Garcia Sanz, M.L. Sanchez Hernandez Guia, Monasterios de las descalzas reales y de la Encarnacion, Madrid, 2008, p.73 ; -Prosperi Adriano, "L'immaculée Conception à Séville et la fondation sacrée de la monarchie espagnole", in Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses, 87ème année, n°4, Oct.-déc. 2007, pp.435-467; -A.M. Pedrocchi, "Claudio Beissonat", in G. Morello, V. Francia, R. Fusco, Una donna vestita di sole: l'Immacolata Concezione nelle opere dei grandi maestri, cat. exp., Vatican City, 2005, Milano, Federico Motta, 2005, p. 261. -Da una dimora di piazza farnese vol.II from a private collection located in piazza farnese, Rome vol.II catalog of [Sale] Sotheby's, lot 425, May 18, 2004 ; -Margarita Estella, La escultura barroca de marfil en España. Esculturas europeas y coloniales, Madrid, 1984, 92. cat n°112, n°103-106 pp.70-73 ; -S. Cassani, Civiltà del Seicento a Napoli, cat. exp. exhibition, Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, October 24 1984-April 14 1985, Naples, Museo Pignatelli, December 6 1984-April 14 1985, Naples, Museo nazionale Aragona Pignatelli, 1984, t. II, pp.188 and 333 ; -Francesco Abbate, La Scultura del Seicento a Napoli, Torino, Scriptorium, 1997; -Alfonso E. Pérez Sanchez, Nicola Spinosa, Jusepe de Ribera 1591-1652, cat exp, New York, The Metropolitan museum of art, September 18-November 29, 1992, New York, The Metropolitan museum of art, 1992, p.34 and notice 42 p. 121. This Immaculate Conception in ivory is a true masterpiece in terms of its material, its extraordinary dimensions and its extremely high quality of execution. It illustrates the triumph of this religious doctrine in 17th-century Europe, long before it was formalized as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. This highly prized devotional object, designed in Spanish-ruled Naples, is signed by Claude Beissonat. The work of this Franche Comté-born artist, still little known, has been progressively informed by successive discoveries and attributions over the last twenty years. This Immaculate Conception is undoubtedly a milestone in his production, revealing the extraordinary talent of an exceptional master ivory-maker. "Todo el mundo en general a vozes, Reyna escogida, diga que soys concebida sin pecado original'"
