Oil on canvas, 34.5cm by 47cm.
The Florentine-born Dolci’s extraordinary technical skill was highly regarded and his work much sought after by collectors, including John, 5th Earl of Exeter (1648-1700), who bought at least eight paintings from the artist.
This one was originally painted for Andrea del Rosso in Genoa and later purchased by the earl from the Del Rosso Collection.
The 1688 Burghley Inventory records: ‘My Lady’s Clossett….6 pictures in Ebbony fframes (viz) The adoration, a St Sebastian, a young Christ’s head, St Johns head in a Charger, the flight into Egypt, ye Nativity in litle} by Carlo Dulci.’
