The Death Of Sophonisba (Sold)

Medium: Oil On Canvas
Size: 126 x 161 cm (49.6 x 63.4 in)

Provenance: Chrysler Collection, New York.  Colnaghi & Co. Ltd., London, c. 1960.
Private Collection.  Christie’s 13th December, 1974, Lot 42.  Private Collection, Madrid.

Sophonisba was the daughter of a Carthaginian general at the time of the Second Punic War. By marrying a prince of Numidia, a State allied to Rome, she won the prince over to the Carthaginian cause. When her husband was defeated and overthrown, his Roman captor, Masinissa, fell in love with Sophonisba who was a famous beauty. However, rather than seeing his love sent in captivity to Rome, Masinissa sent her a cup of poison which she drank (see Livy, History of Rome, 30:12-15). The subject was an extremely popular one with artists in the 17th Century. The shell like vessel appears in several other paintings by Regnier and Sophonisba’s crown, as Princess of Numida lies on the table.

Hermann Voss in 1924 was the first to draw attention to the fact that Regnier was influenced by Guido Reni. Sophonisba’s languid facial type and rolled back eyes certainly reflect Reni, though adapted to Regnier’s more luscious, languid style. The head of Sophonisba is an almost direct borrowing from The Rape of Europa (London, Mahon Collection) or The Magdalen (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica). The type of three quarter length composition with figures placed well to the foreground is Caravaggesque in origin whereas the background suggests more of the Veneto and the influence of Tintoretto and Veronese.

There are three versions of this composition all given to Regnier. This picture, the Chrysler version, is uniformly accepted as the prime and superior first version. There is another version in the Leicester City Art Gallery (measurements 131.4 x 167 cm.) and a third version in Kassel which is almost certainly a contemporary copy, maybe as suggested by Fantelli, by one of Regnier’s daughter’s. There are differences between the ex-Chrysler and Leicester pictures in that in the former, the background column rises above the head of Sophonisba and the head of the old maid is different as is the table. There are also small variations in the folds of the draperies. There is another work by Regnier of Sophonisba as a single figure crowned and in profile holding the cup of poison. This is in the Museo Civico at Padua. Regnier also repeated almost precisely the figure of the weeping hand maiden as the figure of Tamar in Amnon and Tamar in Stuttgart. The physiognomy of the old maid with darkened wrinkled skin is found in several other Seicento pictures executed in Venice, including a work by Strozzi and of course arises from a type often seen in Caravaggesque Buonaventura compositions. All of the Sophonisbas date from Regnier’s full maturity and a date in the 1650s has been suggested.