DOLCI, CARLO
SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST
An old inscription, which reads: "Di mano di Carlo Dolci g co d.9 Giug° 1647" was on the reverse of the picture until it was transferred from wood to canvas.
The picture was part of a series of four small compositions with a depiction of Apostles painted by Dolci in the 1640s for Francesco or Giovanni Quaratesi.
This small exquisitely painted work from the Pushkin Museum collection illustrates a relatively early period in the work of Carlo Dolci, one of the leading Florentine painters of the 17th century. The manner of his painting and the colours used are reminiscent of works by his teacher, Jacopo Vignali.
Provenance: executed as a commission for Giovanni or Francesco Quaratesi in Florence; in 1767 in the collection of the Quaratesi family (possibly till the early 19th century); in 1821 in the collection of A.S.Vlasov (Moscow); acquired in 1886 for the Hermitage from the collection of the Princes Golitsyn (Moscow); in the Pushkin Museum since 1924.
