After Nicolas Poussin, 17th century The Holy Family in Egypt

Property of the Collection of Mrs Catherine Perrot-Moore

After Nicolas Poussin, 17th century
The Holy Family in Egypt

oil on canvas
unframed: 115.5 x 147.2 cm.; 45½ x 58 in.
framed: 119.1 x 152.2 cm.; 46⅞ x 59⅞ in.

Condition Report:
The canvas is lined, the paint surface is dirty and the varnish is discoloured. There is a large vertical surface scratch in the left half of the picture measuring approximately 78 x 4 cm. Areas of discoloured retouching are visible throughout the composition, notably in the sky, parts of the background and in the figures. Inspection under ultraviolet light confirms this and further reveals and old campaign of retouching scattered throughout the composition. The work is in overall moderate condition.

Catalogue Note:
This work is a 17th-century rendition of Nicolas Poussin's The Holy Family in Egypt in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.1 In comparison, this work presents minor differences in the donkey in the foreground and the procession in the background. The Saint Petersburg picture was commissioned between November 1655 and December 1657 by Fréart de Chantelou as a gift for his soon-to-be wife Madame de Montfort. Monsieur de Chantelou's will of 1678 lists the Saint Petersburg picture alongside a copy that has not yet been identified.2 Another, smaller copy, is in the collection of Viscount Cobham at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire.3

1 Inv. no. ГЭ-6741; oil on canvas; 106 x 146 cm.; https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/01.+paintings/36965

2 P. Rosenberg, Nicolas Poussin 1594–1665, exh. cat., Paris 1994, p. 488, no. 223.

3 A. Blunt, The paintings of Nicolas Poussin, London 1966, p. 46, under no. 65;

Provenance:
With Knoedler, New York;

From whom acquired in 1978 by the late husband of the present owner.