Live Auction 1911Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture
Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880)
Lot 172

Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880)

In Saint Peter's, Rome

Closed29 November 2007

Price Realised

USD 145,000

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Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880)
In Saint Peter's, Rome
signed with initials and dated 'Vatican Nov 1st 1868-SRG' (lower left)
oil on canvas
10¾ x 8 in. (27.3 x 20.3 cm.)

The artist.
Sale: Thomas E. Kirby, Auctioneers, Gifford Estate Sale, Part 1, April 12, 1881, no. 130 (as St. Peter's, Rome).
Richard York Gallery, New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1984.

Specialist note

The present work was painted during Sanford Robinson Gifford's second trip to Europe from 1868 to 1869. He "made this small sketch on November 1, 1868, of the room below the Vatican's Sala Regia, which was intersected by Bernini's famous staircase. He noted in his journal that he was fascinated to observe 'the sunlight and color and gorgeous costumes of the people passing to and fro...the whole scene...has come down to us precisely as it was hundreds of years ago, with all its pomp and magnificence.'" (T.E. Stebbins, Jr., ed., The Lure of Italy: American Artists and The Italian Experience, exhibition catalogue, Boston, Massachusetts, 1992, p. 437)