The Cleveland Museum of Art

• Provenance
  Sale, Munich, 1804, unsold and then transferred to the Zentralgemäldegalerie

  1804-1852

  Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, deaccessioned and sold at auction

  1852

  (Sale, Schloss Schleißheim, Augsburg, April 13-23, 1852, lot 16, sold to “Eberle”)

  1852-1860

  Possibly Robert Eberle [1815-1860], Munich, probably by descent to a Vienna collector1

  Late 19th century -1921

  Collector, Vienna, sold to a “minor collector”1

  1921-1928?

  “Minor collector,” Vienna, probably sold or consigned to Galerie Fröhlich1

  1928

  (Galerie Fröhlich, Vienna, sold to Jacques Seligmann & Co.)1

  1928-by 1930?

  (Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, NY, probably sold to Dr. Max Kadisch)1

  By 1930? - 1917/1938

  Probably Dr. Max Kadisch, Vienna, to Jacques Seligmann & Co.1

  1937/1938 - 1946

  (Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1

  1946-

  The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Delia E. Holden and L.E. Holden Funds

  Provenance Footnotes

  1 After the secularization of the monasteries, including the one at Diessen, many works were transferred immediately to the Zentralgemäldegalerie (the predecessor of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), while others first went to the Conservatorium der aufgehobenen Klöster, a depot in the Theatiner monastery (today, Odeonsplatz). From there they were auctioned off, and if they failed to sell, as was the case with the Tiepolo (lot 1084), they were given to the Zentralgemäldegalerie; the Tiepolo was transferred there on August 20, 1804.  This auction had no printed catalogue, only a handwritten list currently at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in Munich. 

  2 Soon after it was transported to Schleißheim castle, a repository for the Zentralgemäldegalerie’s rapidly growing holdings, on August 20, 1804 the Tiepolo was entered as No. 2186 in the "Zweibrücker Nachtragsinventar," the inventory of the Zentralgemäldegalerie's acquisitions.  Tiepolo’s sketch for “The Stoning of St. Stephen” was No. 2187 in the inventory.  In the new inventory of 1822, the “St. Sebastian” and “St. Stephen” were listed as Nos. 4150 and 4151, respectively. 

  3 Both Tiepolo sketches for Diessen were sold by the Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen (formerly the Zentralgemäldegalerie) at auction in 1852.   The “Saint Stephen” was sold to a “Vicentini” or “Vecentini.”

  4 1“Eberle,” the name listed as the buyer in the inventory of the 1852 sale, may be Robert Eberle, a painter living in Munich.  This would be consistent with the fact that a Munich family (Eberle?) is mentioned in "Dr. Fröhlich’s" (likely Otto Fröhlich, a Jewish art dealer who focused on works by the Old Masters) letter of Oct. 27, 1928 to Seligmann as having owned the painting. Robert’s son Adolf, also a painter, had an art collection as well (his collection was sold on June 6, 1916), but given that Fröhlich says that the painting passed, by inheritance (“Erbgang”), to a collector in Vienna – presumably a relative of Eberle - in the second half of the nineteenth century, it is more likely that only Robert owned it, as Adolf died in 1914.  

  5 1According to Fröhlich's letter to Seligmann of Oct. 27, 1928, the Viennese collector was a “well-positioned official” (“hoheren Beamten”) who sold the painting to a “minor collector” (“kleiner Sammler”) in 1921. 

  6 1Fröhlich’s letter to Seligmann says that the Tiepolo was acquired in 1921 by a “minor collector and distrustful odd, old man.”  Fröhlich notes that several years prior to 1928, the owner entrusted the Tiepolo to a Swiss dealer who was going to show the painting to a collector interested in the painting.  It does not appear, however, that any transactions were made involving this dealer or collector.  Because Fröhlich never mentions the name Kadisch, it is unlikely that the unidentified old man is Kadisch; a more likely scenario is that Seligmann sold the painting to Kadisch and that it was somehow returned to Seligmann by 1937/1938 (see note 9).   

  7 1Correspondence between Dr. Fröhlich and Jacques Seligmann from 1928 indicates that Fröhlich sold the painting to Seligmann in 1928. 

  8 1Because Fröhlich does not mention Kadisch in his account of the painting’s recent provenance, and because it is in the Seligmann records that we first see a reference to Kadisch, it seems probable that Fröhlich did not acquire the painting from Kadisch (and thus, Kadisch is not the “odd, old man” referred to by Fröhlich).  Rather, because the Tiepolo appears in the Seligmann records under two different inventory numbers, it seems that Seligmann likely sold the painting to Kadisch sometime after 1928 (inv. no. 4370, 1928-1929 Seligmann stock book) and then, the painting made its way back to Seligmann from Kadisch, perhaps after the latter’s death, which had occurred by 1938, according to Lili Fröhlich-Bume's article published that year.  It should be noted, however, that a review of the Seligmann credit/debit records, ledgers, stock books, and purchase receipts from 1928-1936, do not reveal any reference to the Tiepolo, and thus a sale to Kadisch has not been pinpointed.

  9 1The Seligmann & Co. file on the Tiepolo lists the last owner as “Dr. Max Kadisch” of Vienna; beyond this information, nothing is known about Kadisch, but research continues.  There is an unconfirmed reference in the museum’s files that the painting was with Kadisch by 1930.  Lili Fröhlich-Bume comments in her 1938 article in the Burlington Magazine that the Tiepolo “turned up a few years ago in the collection of the late Dr. Kadisch at Vienna,” suggesting that Kadisch had the painting more recently than prior to 1928, further supporting Kadisch’s not having been the “odd, old man” from whom Fröhlich acquired the painting.  There is, however, no reference in the Seligmann records to the painting’s having gone back and forth between Seligmann and Kadisch.   

  10 1The painting was back with Seligmann & Co. by 1937/1938, when it is listed in the stock book with inv. no. 6508.  The Tiepolo also appears, under the same inventory number, in the list of “Works of Art Sold or Taken out of Stock 1946-1948.”  
• Citations
  Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.

  Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, 1928-1946, 1910. Series 2.2: Museum Files, 1904-1977, undated. Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

  Stock Catalogs, New York Office: Stock Catalog, 1937-1938, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, Series 6.1: Stock Catalogs, New York Office, 1923-1971, undated. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

  Lili Fröhlich-Bume, “Notes on some works by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,” Burlington Magazine 72 (Jan.-June 1938): 82.

  Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, 1928-1946, 1910. Series 2.2: Museum Files, 1904-1977, undated. Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

  Stock Catalogs, New York Office: Stock Catalog, 1937-1938, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, Series 6.1: Stock Catalogs, New York Office, 1923-1971, undated. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

  (Otto?) Fröhlich, letter to Germain Seligmann, Oct. 27, 1928, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, Series 2.2: Museum Files, 1904-1977, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

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  Otto Fröhlich, letter to Germain Seligmann, Oct. 27, 1928, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, Series 2.2: Museum Files, 1904-1977, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

  Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.

  (Otto?) Fröhlich, letter to Germain Seligmann, Oct. 27, 1928, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, Series 2.2: Museum Files, 1904-1977, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

  “Die sogenannte Schleißheimer Versteigerung - Liste aller Inventarnummern,” Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, http://www.zikg.eu/photothek/projekte/schleissheimer-versteigerung/pdf, retrieved Jan. 27, 201

  (Otto?) Fröhlich, letter to Germain Seligmann, Oct. 27, 1928, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974, Series 2.2: Museum Files, 1904-1977, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. [Box 218, folder 5 – digitzed: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/container/viewer/Tiepolo-Giovanni-Battista-emph-render-italic-The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian-emph--292202].

  “Die sogenannte Schleißheimer Versteigerung - Liste aller Inventarnummern,” Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, http://www.zikg.eu/photothek/projekte/schleissheimer-versteigerung/pdf, retrieved Jan. 27, 2014.
  
  

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  Sack, Edward. Giambattista und Domenico Tiepolo: ihr leben und ihre werke. Hamburg, Germany: H. v. Clarmanns Kunstverlag, 1910. Reproduced: p. 187; no. 318

  Froelich-Bume, L. "Notes on Some Works by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo." Burlington Magazine LXXII, no. 419 (February 1938): 82-87. Reproduced: pl. 1A; mentioned: p. 87

  Middeldorf, Ulrich. "Eine Tiepolo-Ausstellung in Chicago." Pantheon xxi (May 1938): 139-147. Reproduced: p. 147

  The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 426; Mentioned: p. 425-427

  Francis, Henry S. "Tiepolo's Modello for The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian at Kiessen, " The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXIV, no. 1(January 1947) Reproduced: cover; Mentioned: p. 3-4

  Berenson, Bernard. "Giovan Battista Tiepolo." L'Illustrazione Italiana VI (1951): 59. Reproduced: p. 59, fig. 3

  Morassi, Antonio. "Una mostra del Settecento Veneziano a Detroit," Arte Veneta: Rivista di Storia dell'Arte VII (1953): 49-62. Mentioned: p. 52-53

  Milliken, William Mathewson. The Cleveland Museum of Art. New York, NY: H.N. Abrams, 1958. Reproduced: p. 46

  Seligman, Germain. Merchants of Art: 1880-1960; Eighty Years of Professional Collecting. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962. Reproduced: pl. 85

  Morassi, Antonio. A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings of G.B. Tiepolo. London, UK: Phaidon Press, 1962. Reproduced: p. 9, fig. 116

  The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 145 archive.org

  Pallucchini, Anna.L'opera completa di Giambattista Tiepolo. Milano, IT: Rizzoli, 1968. Reproduced: p. 104, no. 125a; vol. 25

  The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 145 archive.org

  Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. Mentioned: p. 196, 449, 574

  The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 144 archive.org

  Brown, Beverly Louise, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Terisio Pignatti, Oreste Ferrari, and Teresa Longyear. Giambattista Tiepolo: Master of the Oil Sketch. Milan: Electa, 1993. Mentioned: cat. no. 45, p. 32

  Krückmann, Peter Oluf. Tiepolo in Würzburg: der Himmel auf Erden. München, Germany: Prestel, 1996. Reproduced: p. 126-127; pl. 59

  Petzet, Michael, Susanne Böning-Weis, Karlheinz Hemmeter, and York Langenstein. Monumental: Festschrift für Michael Petzet zum 65. Geburtstag am 12. April 1998. München, Germany: Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, 1998. Reproduced: p. 626

  Pedrocco, Filippo. Tiepolo: the complete paintings. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 2002. Reproduced: p. 241
• Exhibition History
  Heaven on Earth (Tiepolo in Würzburg). Würzburg Residenz (organizer) (February 14-May 19, 1996).

  Wurzburg, Germany, State Gallery of the Wurzburg Residence, February 14-May 19, 1996: "Tiepolo in Wurzburg," cat. #.

  Giambattista Tiepolo: Master of the Oil Sketch. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (organizer) (September 18-December 12, 1993).

  The Tiepolos and Their World. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 6-November 22, 1981).

  CMA, 1956. Akron Art Institute, October 1-October 31, 1957: "Masterpieces Series," (no cat.)

  The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957).

  Venice 1700-1800: An Exhibition of the Venetian Eighteenth Century. Indianapolis Museum of Art; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (organizer) (September 30-November 2, 1952).

  Detroit Institute of Arts and John Herron Art Museum (Indianapolis), 1952.: Venice, 1700—1800, An Exhibition of Venice and the Eighteenth Century, cat. no. 66;

  Paintings, Drawings and Prints by the Two Tiepolos, Giambattista and Giandomenico. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (1938).

  Venetian Painting from the Fifteenth Century through the Eighteenth Century. Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (1938).
• Cite this Page
  {{cite web|title=Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)|url=false|author=Giovanni Battista Tiepolo|year=1739|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}