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Woman Dressed with Jewels (The Personification of Fire)
Rosalba Giovanna Carriera (Italian (Venetian), 1675–1757)
about 1724
Medium/Technique
Pastel on paper
Dimensions
63.5 x 50.8 cm (25 x 20 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge
Accession Number53.942
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPastels
Recent scholarship from 2007 suggests that for this allegorical depiction of a Personification of Fire Rosalba Carriera may have been inspired by the famous contralto Faustina Bordoni (1697-1782). Carriera depicted Bordoni in a sensitive portrait in pastel, somewhat smaller than this piece, in 1724-25 in Venice. The similarity between the two pastels is notable, but not definitive.
ProvenanceSir Robert Gresley (b. 1866 - d. 1936), 11th Bart., Drakelowe Hall, Derbyshire, England. 1925, Basil Dighton, London; 1925, sold by Basil Dighton to Siegfried Aufhäuser (b. 1877 - d. 1949), London, Munich, and New York [see note 1]; February 19, 1948, Aufhäuser sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, lot 45, sold for $1300. 1953, Charles Armour, New York; March 14, 1953, Armour sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, lot 305, to Victor D. Spark (dealer) for Catherine Spencer Eddy (Mrs. Albert J.) Beveridge (b. 1881 - d. 1970), Beverly Farms, MA; 1953, gift of Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 14, 1953)
NOTES:
[1] As suggested by information in the 1948 Parke-Bernet catalogue. Siegfried Aufhäuser, of the Munich Bankhaus Aufhäuser, had spent the early years of the twentieth century working in London, where he obtained English citizenship. He returned to Munich after World War I and, in addition to working as banker, became the general consul to Sweden. The Bankhaus Aufhäuser was Aryanized in 1938, and Siegfried Aufhäuser emigrated through England to the United States. Parke-Bernet galleries held a number of sales of objects from his collection in the 1940s.
NOTES:
[1] As suggested by information in the 1948 Parke-Bernet catalogue. Siegfried Aufhäuser, of the Munich Bankhaus Aufhäuser, had spent the early years of the twentieth century working in London, where he obtained English citizenship. He returned to Munich after World War I and, in addition to working as banker, became the general consul to Sweden. The Bankhaus Aufhäuser was Aryanized in 1938, and Siegfried Aufhäuser emigrated through England to the United States. Parke-Bernet galleries held a number of sales of objects from his collection in the 1940s.