ANTONIO CANOVA (POSSAGNO 1757–1822 VENICE), 1819-22 - photo 1
ANTONIO CANOVA (POSSAGNO 1757–1822 VENICE), 1819-22 - photo 2
ANTONIO CANOVA (POSSAGNO 1757–1822 VENICE), 1819-22 - photo 3
ANTONIO CANOVA (POSSAGNO 1757–1822 VENICE), 1819-22 - photo 4

ANTONIO CANOVA (POSSAGNO 1757–1822 VENICE), 1819-22

Starting price
£ 5 000 000
Auction dateClassic
07.07.2022 19:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 791876
Lot 8 | ANTONIO CANOVA (POSSAGNO 1757–1822 VENICE), 1819-22
ANTONIO CANOVA (POSSAGNO 1757–1822 VENICE), 1819-22

Maddalena Giacente

(Recumbent Magdalene)



marble

29 1⁄2 x 69 1⁄4 x 33 1⁄4 in. (75 x 176 x 84.5 cm.)





Provenance

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (1770-1828) for Fife House, Whitehall, commissioned from the artist for £1,200.

By descent to his brother

Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool (1784-1851), Fife House, Whitehall.

Christie’s, Auction at Fife House, Whitehall, 23 April 1852, where the Magdalene appeared as lot 120.

Christie's, London, 2 June 1856, lot 57.

Purchased at the above sale by

William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (1817-1885), Witley Court, Worcestershire, for £1,000.

By descent to his son

William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley (1867-1932).

Purchased from the above along with Witley Court and its contents in 1920 by

Sir Herbert Smith, Bt. (1872-1943).

Jackson Stops & Staff auctioneers, sale on the premises at Witley Court, Worcestershire, sold under the direction of Sir Herbert Smith, Bt., 27-30 September and 3-5 October 1938, lot 804.

Purchased at the above sale by

Mrs Violet Van der Elst, Harlaxton Manor, for 40 guineas.

Sold by the above with her house 80 Addison Rd, London, in May 1959 to

Jonathan Manasseh, London.

Sotheby’s, Summer’s Place Auctions, Billingshurst, ‘Garden Statuary and Architectural Items’, 21 and 22 May 2002, lot 712,

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.



Literature

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Teotochi Albrizzi, Opere di scultura e plastica di Antonio Canova descritte da Isabella Teotochi nata Albrizzi, I-IV, Pisa, 1823 (and subsequent editions).

Memoria, in Biblioteca canoviana ossia Raccolta delle migliori prose, e de’ più scelti componimenti poetici, sulla vita, sulle opere ed in morte di Antonio Canova, I-IV, Venice, 1823, pp. 149-150.

M. Missirini, Vita di Antonio Canova libri quattro compilati da Melchior Missirini, Prato, 1824.

G. Rosini, Saggio sulla vita e sulle opere di Antonio Canova, Pisa, 1825, p. 101.

L. Cicognara, Biografia di Antonio Canova scritta dal cav. Leopoldo Cicognara. Aggiuntivi. I. Il Catalogo completo delle opere del Canova. II. Un saggio delle sue lettere familiari. III. La storia della sua ultima malattia scritta dal dott. Paolo Zannini, Venice, 1823, pp. 37, 67.

A.C. Quatremère de Quincy, Canova et ses ouvrages ou Mémoires historiques sur la vie et les travaux d ce célèbre artiste par M. Quatremère de Quincy, Paris, 1834.

J. Russell (ed.) Memoirs, Journal and Correspondence of Thomas Moore, III, Boston, 1853, pp. 126, 144 and 152.

Catalogue of the Art Treasures of the United Kingdom, exhibition catalogue, Manchester, 1857, p.135.

W. J. Linton, H. Linton, F.J. Smyth, eds., The Art Treasures Examiner, Manchester, 1857, p. 110.

T. Morris, An historical, descriptive and biographical hand-book to the Exhibition of the United Kingdom's Art Treasures, at Manchester, 1857, London, p.30.

G. Scharf, On the Manchester Art-Treasures Exhibition, 1857, transcript of paper given at The Royal Institution on 15th April, 1858.

A. D’Este, Memorie di Antonio Canova scritte da Antonio D’Este e pubblicate per cura di Alessandro D’Este, con note e documenti, Florence, 1864.

N. Hawthorne, Passages from the English Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Boston, 1880, p. 117.

A. Jameson with E. Hurll, ed., The Writings on Art of Anna Jameson in Five Volumes. Sacred and legendary art, I, Boston and New York, 1899, p 370.

V. Malamani, Canova, Milano, 1911, p. 81.

E. Bassi, La Gipsoteca di Possagno. Sculture e dipinti di Antonio Canova, Venice, 1957.

E. Bassi, ed., Il Museo Civico di Bassano. I disegni di Antonio Canova, Venice 1959.

W. Shubart, Eros e religione. L’amor sacro e l’amor profano, Milan, 1966.

C. Neilson Gattey, The Incredible Mrs Van der Elst, London, 1972, pp. 229-230.

G. Pavanello, ed., L’opera completa del Canova, presentation by M. Praz, critical and philological apparatus by G. Pavanello, Milan, 1976.

N. Gash, Lord Liverpool - the Life and Political Career of Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl Liverpool, London, 1984, p. 209.

G. Testori and G. Ravasi, Maddalena, con una ghirlanda di testi e di immagini, Milano, 1989.

C. Costanzi, M. Massa and S. Papetti, eds., Il Tempo del bello. Leopardi e il Neoclassico tra le Marche e Roma, Venice, 1998.

O. Stefani, Antonio Canova. La statuaria, Milan, 1999, pp. 246-247, fig. 284.

A. Canova, Pensieri di Antonio Canova sulle belle arti, collected by Melchior Missirini, edited by M. Brusatin, Milano, 2005, p. 16.

G. Pavanello, ed., Il Carteggio Canova-Quatremère de Quincy 1785-1822 nell’edizione di Francesco Paolo Luiso, Ponzano, Treviso, 2005.

A. Canova, Scritti, edited by H. Honour and P. Mariuz, Rome, 2007.

S. Androsov, F. Mazzocca, A. Paolucci, S. Grandesso and F. Leone, Forlì, eds., Canova. L’ideale classico tra scultura e pittura, exhibition catalogue, Musei San Domenico, 2009.

A. Malinverni, in S. Androsov, F. Mazzocca and A. Paolucci, eds., Canova. L’ideale classico tra scultura e pittura, exhibition catalogue, Musei San Domenico, Forlì, 2009, pp. 195-196.

G. Solana, Lagrimas de Eros, exhibition catalogue, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisz, Madrid, 2009-10, 2009, pp. 248-249, no. 106.

G. Böhme in Atmosfere, estasi, messe in scena. L’estetica come teoria generale della percezione, edited by T. Griffero, Milano, 2010.

M. Guderzo, ed., Il Museo e la Gipsoteca di Antonio Canova di Possagno, Possagno, 2012.

J. Kenworthy-Brown, ‘Canova and the Bachelor Duke’, in Studi neoclassici: Rivista internazionale, no. 1, 2013, pp. 147-156.

F. Leone, ‘Un inedito di Antonio Canova: la Maddalena giacente, il modelletto di un marmo disperso’, in Storia dell’Arte, no. 135, 2013, pp. 101-115.

A. Canova, Scritti, edited by P. Mariuz, Bassano del Grappa, 2014.

A.G. Meyer, Canova (Bielefeld-Leipzig, Velhagen & Klasing 1898), introduction and italian translation edited by Alexander Auf der Heyde, Bassano del Grappa, Istituto di ricerca per gli studi su Canova e il Neoclassicismo 2014, p. 34, 97.

M. Guderzo, ‘The classical Conception of Antonio Canova’, in X.F. Salomon, G. Beltramini and M. Guderzo, eds., Canova’s George Washington, The Frick Collection, New York, 2018, pp. 89-111.

V. Sgarbi and S. Pallavicini, eds., La Maddalena. Caravaggio e Canova, exhibition catalogue, Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno, 2021.

F. Bosi, in Maddalena. Il mistero e l’immagine, exhibition catalogue, curated by C. Acidini, F. Mazzocca, P. Refice, Musei di San Domenico, Forlì, 2022, pp. 357, 491-492.

A. Costarelli, Antonio Canova e gli Inglesi, Cinisello Balsamo, 2022, pp. 215-218

F. Leone, Antonio Canova. La vita l’opera, Roma, 2022, pp. 337, 388, 484, 486-489, 556. 



The British Library, The Liverpool Papers: Correspondence and papers, official and private, of the first three Earls of Liverpool, Add MS 38475 (1823-1863)

f. 45 (Fr.), 55 Abbate Giovanni Battista Sartori Canova, stepbrother of Antonio Canova: Correspondence with the 2nd Earl of Liverpool: 1823.

f. 79 Elizabeth Cavendish, widow of William, 5th Duke of Devonshire: Correspondence with the 2nd Earl of Liverpool: 1822, 1823.



Biblioteca Civica di Bassano del Grappa, Mss. Canoviani: 4.96.1167, 4.96.1169, IV.334.3088., IV.96.1170., 4.384.3090., I.53.1462., IV.111.1294, IV.111.1295., IV.111.1296.



The Morning Post, Monday, March 29, 1852, p. 8.

The Worcester Herald, Saturday, February 28th, 1857, Lord Ward’s Gallery.

The Daily Post, Saturday, May 2, 1857, The Manchester Palace of Art.

The Dublin Daily Express, Tuesday May 5, 1857, The Art Treasures Exhibition.

The Daily News, Monday, May 25, 1857, Fine Arts, The Art Treasures Exhibition Manchester, p.2.

The Bath Chronicle, Thursday, April 24, 1890, Marriage of Lord Weymouth, M.P. and Miss Mordaunt,

p.7.



Exhibited

London, Egyptian Hall, Picadilly, 1856.

Manchester, Art Treasures of the United Kingdom, 1857.



Special Notice


This lot will be stored at Crozier Park Royal and will be available for collection from 12.00pm on the second business day following the sale. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Crozier Park Royal. All collections from Crozier Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 I Email: [email protected].



Post Lot Text

We would like to thank Francis Outred Ltd. for their extensive research on the sculpture and the discovery of its history.

Please note that the present lot has been requested for the exhibition 'Canova and Europe', to be held in the autumn of 2023 at the Musei Civici, Bassano del Grappa.

Please see christies.com for a more extensive entry on this lot.
Artist:Antonio Canova (1757 - 1822)
Medium:Marble, Stone
Art style:Neoclassicism, Old Masters
Place of origin:Italy
Category:Sculpture
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
02.07.2022 – 07.07.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

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