Giovanni Galizzi,

Italian fl.1543-1565-

Virgin and child with angel;

oil on canvas, impressed stamp 'F. Leedham / Liner' (on the reverse of the stretcher), 76.8 x 84 cm.

Provenance: Purchased Sotheby's, London, late 1940s as 'TINTORETTO', by the father of the present owner.

Note: We are grateful to Dr Frederick Ilchman of the Museum of Fine Arts, Bostonfor proposing and endorsing the attribution to Galizzi. Though the traditional identification of the present work as hailing from the circle of Tintoretto (1518-1594) remains correct, the attribution to Galizzi comes as a result of a more cohesive group of works being formed around the lesser known artist in recent years, shedding light on his idiosyncratic, yet recognisable hand. Giovanni Galizzi, or Giovanni de'Vecchi, worked in Venice for at least 22 years, and was a member of the Bergamasque Santa Croce clan. He is known from two signed and dated works, both from churches outside Bergamo but identified in inscriptions as painted in Venice. One is a triptych dated 1543, once in the church of Breno but now dismembered, consisting of a central Madonna and Child (Agliardi Collection, Bergamo) flanked by Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius (Accademia Carrara, Bergamo). The second represents Saint Mark Enthroned with Saint James and Saint Patrick (Parish House, S. Maria Assunta, Vertova), and is dated 1547. Galizzi received his early training in the workshop of Francesco Rizzo da Santa Croce (fl.1507-1545), while his stylistic development also suggests a later connection to Polidoro da Lanciano (c.1515-1564). His relationship with Jacopo Tintoretto is not definitively known, though they had probably known each other from Galizzis early years, as both Tintoretto and Galizzis master, Francesco Rizzo, lived in the same district of San Cassiano. In the early 1550s, Galizzi collaborated with Marten De Vos (1532-1603), who is reported to have worked in Tintorettos studio. It is therefore entirely plausible that Galizzi did not simply emulate Tintoretto, who had meanwhile come to dominate Venetian painting, but that he actually worked in his workshop. Regardless, it appears that he was sufficiently independent to accept commissions of his own and adhere to his personal, unmistakable style. For further information on Galizzi and his oeuvre, see Robert Echols, Giovanni Galizzi and the Problem of the Young Tintoretto, Artibus et Historiae 16, no.31 (1995), pp.69-110 and Roland Krischel, ed. Tintoretto: A Star Was Born. Wallraf-Richartz Museum and Fondation Corboud, Cologne; Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, 2017. Works ascribed to Galizzis hand have a slim record of selling on the open market, though one large oil by the artist, The Holy Family with Saint Mary Magdalen, appeared recently at Dorotheum, Vienna, 11 May 2022, lot 34 (€40,960).