Description
Giuseppe Maria Crespi filled this depiction of the wedding feast where Jesus performed his first miracle with luxurious accessories and smaller interactions between characters within the larger narrative. On the left, Jesus converses with his mother; on the right, the wedding’s astonished host and his servant taste the water Jesus has miraculously turned into wine. The painting brings together the Venetian tradition of color and grandeur with the close observation of figures characteristic of the artist’s native Bologna.
Provenance
Commissioned by Giovanni Ricci, Bologna, c. 1686 [Zanotti 1739, p. 36]; by descent to his nephew, Antonio Marchesini, Bologna, by 1739 [Zanotti 1739, p. 36]; by descent to Filippo Marchesini, Strada Maggiore, Bologna, by c. 1765 [included in Marcello Oretti, “Descrizione delle Pitture che ornano Le Case de Cittadini della Città di Bologna," [1765], Bologna, Biblioteca Comunale, MS.B.109, (pt. 1), pp. 6–7, see Calbi and Scaglietti Kelescian 1984 pp. 86–87]; bought by Dr. Giacomelli, Bologna, c. 1766 (Crespi, 1769, pp. 205–06). Palazzo Sampieri, Bologna, by 1789 until 1830 [mentioned by Lanzi 1789 and Ticozzi 1850]. Maurice Marignane, Paris [according to record in Registrar's office]. C. Marshall Spink, London by 1956; sold to the Art Institute, 1956.
Accession Number
2166
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
188 × 248.4 cm (74 × 97 3/4 in.); Framed: 215.9 × 273.7 cm (85 × 107 3/4 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Wirt D. Walker Fund
