The Death of Sophonisba (Pittoni)

The Death of Sophonisba
ArtistGiovanni Battista Pittoni
Year1716.1720
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions165 cm × 214 cm (65 in × 84 in)
LocationPushkin Museum, Moscow

The Death of Sophonisba is am oil on canvas painting of by Italian painter Giambattista Pittoni, from 1716-1720. It depicts the episode of the suicide of Sophonisba. It is held at the Pushkin Museum, in Moscow.[1][2]

History

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It was created originally in Venice - a sketch or smaller copy was bought by the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in 1723.[1] It was bought for the Hermitage Museum in 1773 by the court cellist G. Dal Olio, then placed in the Tauride Palace.[1] It was auctioned by Tsar Nicholas I in 1854 and bought by E.T. Zarudnoi-Cavos, then bought back by the Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, in 1918.[1] It was finally transferred to its present home at the Pushkin Museum, in Moscow, in 1930.[1] Its pair a Semiramis by the same artist, was in the Nikaelov collection in Paris before being bought by the Pushkin Museum in 1853.[3]

Bibliography

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  • (in Italian) Antichità viva, Volume 32, Edam, 1993
  • (in Italian) Franca Zava Boccazzi, Giambattista Pittoni, ed. Alfieri, 1979
  • (in Italian) N. Pozza, 'Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte', Volume 21, Istituto di storia dell'arte (Fondazione "Giorgio Cini"), 1997
  • (in Italian) F. Apolloni and M. Tazzoli, Antologia Di Belle Arti, 2000

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Catalogue entry".
  2. ^ Pushkhin Museum, Italian Art
  3. ^ (in Italian) Irina Artemʹeva, Giuseppe Bergamini, Giuseppe Pavanello, Capolavori nascosti dell'Ermitage: dipinti veneti del Sei e Settecento da Pietroburgo, Electa, 1998, (ISBN 8843565834)