The Sacrifice of Noah
The Sacrifice of Noah
- Artist
- Attributed to Antonio de Bellis
- Artist Dates
- 1616-c. 1657/1658
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Title
- The Sacrifice of Noah
- Date
- c. 1645-50
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 102.2 x 128.9 cm (40-1/4 x 50-3/4 in)
- K Number
- K1401
- Repository
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Accession Number
- 61.63
- Notes
Provenance
Maurice Kann [1839-1906], Paris; by inheritance to Alphonse Kann [1870-1948], Paris; (Kann sale, American Art Association, New York, 1 July 1927, cat. pl. 71); (Findlay Galleries). (Julius H. Weitzner New York); sold to Samuel H. Kress [1863-1955] on 24 July 1945 as Bernardo Cavallino; gift 1961 to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, no. 61.63.
Catalogue Entry
Attributed to Antonio de Bellis
The Sacrifice of Noah
K1401
Houston, Tex., Museum of Fine Arts (61-62), since 1953.(1) Canvas. 40 x 50 5/8 in. (101.6 x 128.6 cm.). Fair condition; face at upper right restored; sky abraded; cleaned 1945. When K1401 was on the market in 1927, it was incorrectly labeled Abraham Sacrificing the Sheep, by Nicolas Poussin.(2) The error was soon corrected,(3) and the title and attribution under which the painting is entered in the present catalogue has not been questioned. Dating the picture is more difficult, since there is only one known painting by Cavallino on which a date is inscribed, the St. Cecilia formerly in the Wenner Collection, Naples,(4) a painting which is signed as well as dated. The date is 1645 and, since the picture shows a somewhat further advance than K1401 toward the elegance of van Dyck, a date of about 1640 would seem reasonable for K1401. There has evidently been no attempt to imitate ancient Roman or Greek style in the bas-relief and corner figures shown on the altar. The subject of the relief is baffiing; it can scarcely be the drunkenness of Noah. Provenance: Maurice Kann, Paris. Alphonse Kann, Paris (sold, American Art Association, New York, Jan. 7, 1927, pl. 71, as Abraham Sacrificing the Sheep, by Nicolas Poussin; bought by the Findlay Art Galleries, New York). Julius H. Weitzner's, New York. Kress acquisition, 1945 –exhibited: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (840), 1945-53, as the Sacrifice of Noah, by Cavallino.
References
(1) Catalogue by W. E. Suida, 1953, no. 21, as Cavallino, dating it c. 1640/42. (2) See reference in Provenance to the 1927 sale catalogue. (3) The attribution to Cavallino and the interpretation of the subject as the Sacrifice of Noah were first presented by H. Voss (letter of June 15, 1937). The picture was thus labeled when it was exhibited at the National Gallery of Art (see above, under Provenance). (4) Now on deposit with the Soprintendenza alle Gallerie, Florence.