PITTONI, GIOVAN BATTISTA

THE DEATH OF SOPHONISBA

The other work of this pair entitled Semiramida is in the collection of I. Nikaelov (Paris).

Like the picture in the Pushkin Museum, Semiranida was auctioned in 1854. The sketch or smaller replica of the Moscow canvas was held in the collection of the Dresden Gallery for which it was acquired in 1723.

Provenance: acquired for the Hermitage from the court violinist G. Dal Olio in St Petersburg c 1773; held in the Tauride Palace; auctioned on the instructions of Tsar Nicholas I from the Hermitage in 1854 and held in the collection of E.T. Zarudnoi-Cavos; returned to the Hermitage in 1918; in the Pushkin Museum since 1930.