Cupids Disarming Sleeping Nymphs
Giuseppe Maria Crespi·c. 1690/1705
Historical Context
Giuseppe Maria Crespi's Cupids Disarming Sleeping Nymphs (c. 1690-1705) is a playful mythological scene by the most original and independent painter in late Baroque Bologna. Crespi, nicknamed "Lo Spagnuolo" for his dark complexion, broke from the refined classicism of the Bolognese tradition to develop a freer, more sensuous painting style that anticipated the Rococo. This intimate scene of mischievous putti stealing weapons from sleeping nymphs combines erotic charm with virtuoso painting on the demanding surface of copper, which allowed for exceptionally smooth, luminous effects.
Technical Analysis
Painted on copper, which provides an exceptionally smooth surface for fine detail, Crespi achieves rich, luminous flesh tones and delicate atmospheric effects through thin, translucent oil glazes, with the warm copper ground contributing to the painting's overall golden tonality.
Provenance
(Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Rome), by 1928;[1] purchased 1930 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1939 to NGA. [1] The painting is identified as being in the collection of Count Contini in Rome by Victor Lasareff, "Studies on Giuseppe Maria Crespi. Part One," _Art in America_ XVII, no. 1 (December 1928): 17, fig. 3. [2] The bill of sale between Contini Bonacossi and the Kress Foundation that includes this painting is dated 30 September 1930. The painting is described as "Hunting Scene by G.B. Crespi," and notes indicate it was credited for return to Contini Bonacossi on 13 September 1931, but was bought back in 1932, when it is listed again on a bill of 4 March. Neither bill indicates any prior provenance information; see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/634. (Copies of the bills of sale are in NGA curatorial files.)
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