Gallery Label A fifth-century ascetic, Mary of Egypt is shown receiving her Last Communion from the hands of the priest Zosimus, following forty-seven years of isolation in the wilderness of Palestine. The picture has a pendant showing the ecstasy of Saint Mary Magdalen (Molinari Pradelli collection, Bologna). Painted in about 1690, it was given in 1709 to Pope Clement XI as a gift of the Senate of Bologna in anticipation of his support for the founding of an art academy in the city.
Notes This picture is one of a pair. Its pendant, "The Ecstasy of Saint Mary Magdalen," is in the Molinari Pradelli collection, Bologna. The original patron is not known, but in 1709 the two works were given by the Senate of Bologna to Pope Clement XI to obtain his support for the establishment of an art academy in Bologna.
Provenance [Francesco Ruvinetti, until about 1709; sold by or through him with its pendant for 80 luigi to Senate of Bologna]; Senate of Bologna (1709; given to Clement XI); Pope Clement XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani), Rome (from 1709); ?Henry R. Willett, Brighton (before d. 1905); Canon Robert Wadnan, Saint Joseph's Presbytery, Bridgewater, England (until d. 1914; sale, Puttick & Simpson, London, October 16, 1914, no. 74, as Flemish School, to Grace); Lionell P. Grace, London (1914–probably until d. 1919); ?sale, Sotheby's, London, as by Albani, to Pope-Hennessy; Sir John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy, London, later New York, later Florence (by 1961–d. 1994); Michael Mallon, Florence (1994–96; sale, "The Collections of the late Sir John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy," Christie’s, New York, January 10, 1996, no. 103, for $112,500 to Agnew); [Agnew, New York, 1996; sold to MMA]
References Filippo Aldrovandi. Letters to the Bolognese Senate . June 26 and 29, 1709 [Lettere dalli 8 Giugno 1709 alli 31 Luglio dello Oratore/D: Co: Philippo Aldrovando/Pietro Jacopo Martello, Segretario.Archivio dell'Ambasciata Bolognese in Roma, vol. 262, tomo 2, Archivio di Stato, Bologna, pp. 515, 518a; published in Ref. Miller 1970].Letter to the Bolognese Senate . July 3, 1709 [Registrum d'die 13 Februarii, 1709, adi 14 Octobris/dicti Oratore D: Co: Philippo Aldrovando/Piero Jacopo Martello, Secretario (Archivio dell'Ambasciata Bolognese in Roma, vol. 62, tomo 2, p. 522; Archivio di Stato, Bologna; published Ref. Miller 1970].Storia dell'Accademia Clementina di Bologna . Bologna, 1739, vol. 1, pp. 223–24.Estratti storici artistici dall'Archivio del Reggimento . . . di Bologna e del legato diretto dall'attuale archivista Filippo Alfonso Fontana . n.d., pp. 228–29 [Biblioteca Comunale, Bologna, MS B 2382; published in Ref. Miller 1970].Burlington Magazine 112 (June 1970), pp. 373–78, fig. 39.Commentario alla 'Storia dell'Accademia Clementina' di G. P. Zanotti (1739) [Atti e memorie della Accademia Clementina di Bologna, no. 12] . Bologna, 1977, p. 66.Pittura Bolognese, 1650–1800: dal Cignani ai Gandolfi . Bologna, 1977, pp. 23, 101, 259, 261.in La raccolta Molinari Pradelli: dipinti del Sei e Settecento . Exh. cat., Palazzo del Podestà. Florence, 1984, p. 104.Learning to Look . New York, 1991, p. 317.The Collections of the Late Sir John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy . Christie's, New York. January 10, 1996, pp. 114–15, no. 103, ill. (color).Marcantonio Franceschini . Turin, 2001, pp. 76, 86, 221, 237, 429, 435, no. 131, fig. 131, colorpl. XII.in The Wrightsman Pictures . New York, 2005, pp. 110–12, no. 32, ill. (color).
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