1271 - Simone Cantarini (Pesaro, 1612 – Verona, 1648), attributed

Simone Cantarini (Pesaro, 1612 – Verona, 1648), attributed The Holy Family with the Young St. John A figure study executed with dynamic, powerful brushstrokes that exhibits striking parallels—both in subject matter and style—to the work of the prominent Baroque artist Simone Cantarini, a pupil of Guido Reni, who repeatedly explored and varied the motif of the Holy Family. The dense network of lines, consisting of fluidly applied pentimenti, and the vertical boundary lines are also recurring characteristics in Cantarini’s oeuvre. These reminiscences become particularly evident in a direct comparison with the etching “Sacra Famiglia con San Giovannino,” created around 1640 (Bellini 31; Bartsch XIX.130.12). Both prints follow a compact, densely packed composition with a suggested column bordering the sides, and the figures are depicted—albeit mirror-inverted—in corresponding postures; only the Christ Child—unlike in the etching—turns not toward his mother but toward Saint Joseph in a tender embrace, almost as if he had just turned around. Red chalk on paper. Collection stamp on the reverse (Lugt 5818). 13.1 cm x 9.5 cm. Framed. Provenance: Richard Herrlinger (1881–1971), Vienna; German private collection, acquired from Yvonne Tan Bunzl, London. Attributed to Simone Cantarini (1612–1648). Red chalk on paper. Collection stamp on the reverse (Lugt 5818). Provenance: Richard Herrlinger, Vienna. German private collection, acquired from Yvonne Tan Bunzl, London.