Circle of Lazarro Taverone, 
Italian 1556-1641- 
St Benedict enthroned, accompanied by St John...

Circle of Lazarro Taverone, 
Italian 1556-1641- 

St Benedict enthroned, accompanied by St John the Baptist and St Luke, and a monk; 

pen, ink, and wash on blue paper, bears inscription 'Luca Cangialo' (lower left), collector's stamp for Modesto Genevosio [L.545] (lower right), 35 x 22.7 cm., (mounted / unframed). 

Provenance: 
The Collection of Modesto Genevosio, Turin (1719-1795). 
Private Collection, UK. 

Note: 
The present work is one of many versions of the same composition produced by followers of Luca Cambiaso (1527-1585), including in the Prado Museum, Madrid [no.D001683], the Louvre, Paris [no.9288], the Accademia, Venice [no.355] and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest [2049]. The drawing by Cambiaso himself is in the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin [no.2017.972].

The catalogue entry for the Prado drawing work reads: 'This drawing is connected with Cambiaso's altarpiece of St. Benedict enthroned between Saints John the Baptist and Luke, commissioned by Luca Spinola in 1562 for the family chapel in the now demolished church of S. Caterina dei Monaci Regolari di S. Benedetto, and presently located over the altar of the Cappella Lercari in the cathedral of S. Lorenzo, Genoa. An identical composition to that of this drawing occurs in two other studio drawings, likewise in pen and wash, one in the Louvre (inv. no. 9288) and the other in the Accademia, Venice (inv. no. 355). The Prado, Louvre, and Venice drawings appear to document an intermediate phase in the design of the Genoa altarpiece, postdating that known from the preparatory drawing by Cambiaso himself, formerly in the Suida Manning Collection, New York, and now in the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, the University of Texas, Austin.' 

Lazzaro Taverone was the pupil of Cambiaso and it is entirely conceivable that the present work is by Taverone himself. Indeed, Taverone owned a vast collection of over 2,000 drawings by Cambiaso and other artists, and so he may well have used Cambiaso's original composition as a reference point. See, for example, Taverone's drawing 'The Deposition' which was copied direct from Cambiaso's drawing of the subject (Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 7 December 2016, lot 12). The skillful use of chiaroscuro wash and economy of line in the present work relate closely to Taverone's handling.