Woman Dressed with Jewels (The Personification of Fire)
Rosalba Giovanna Carriera
(Italian (Venetian), 1675–1757)
about 1724
Medium/TechniquePastel on paper
Dimensions63.5 x 50.8 cm (25 x 20 in.)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge
Accession number53.942
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPastels
Collections
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.
Rosalba Giovanna Carriera
Henry Tonks
Unidentified artist, British, mid 18th century
Unidentified artist, British, 19th century
André Lhote
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Unidentified artist, French, third quarter 18th century
Jean Martial Frédou
Claude-Jean-Baptiste Hoin
