Isidoro BIANCHI Campione d'Italia, 1581 - 1662 Pietà Oil on slate (Restorations) The Pietà, oil on slate, by I. Bianchi 45.30 x 23.50 cm (17.83 x 9.25 in.) Provenance: M.J.B., Netherlands, 1924, according to a label on the reverse; Anonymous sale; London, Christie's, 26 July 1968, no. 14 (as Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli); Anonymous sale; London, Christie's, 17 April 2002, no. 94; Acquired at this sale by the current owner; Private collection, Paris Comment: The cameo treatment and slate support make this Pieta an original work, halfway between sculpture and painting. The artist was a pupil of Pier Francesco Mazzuchelli, known as Il Morazzone, to whom this Pietà1 was given for a long time before being returned to Isidoro Bianchi by Francesco Frangi when it came up for sale in 20022. His career was studded with prestigious commissions, including the frescoes at Sant'Ambrogio in Milan and the grand salon at the Castello di Rivoli, for which he completed the work of his late master Il Morazzone in 1623 at the request of the Duke of Savoy Charles-Emmanuel I. 1 Our Pieta was requested on loan by Luigi Cavadini in 2003 to be included in the monographic exhibition devoted to Isidoro Bianchi at the Galleria Civica in Campione, but was not able to reach the Galleria in time. 2. anonymous sale; London, Christie's, 17 April 2002, no. 94