GIOVANNI BATTISTA LOMBARDI (ITALIAN, 1823-1880/890)

A student of the Accademia in Rome under the direction of Piètro Tenerani, himself a pupil of Thorvaldsen, Giovanni Battista Lombardi had a celebrated career producing large-scale religious and allegorical subjects. Ruth, a Biblical figure and the great-grandmother of David, is here represented with sheaves of corn, a reference to the fields of Boaz, whose fields she gleaned and whom she ultimately married following demonstrations of her virtuosity. This figure is amongst the artist's most recognizable works, and his studio produced it on a number of occasions. A single figure of Ruth was sold at Sotheby's New York, 18 April 2008, lot 243 ($133,000).