MASTERPIECES FROM ITALIAN COLLECTIONS

28 SEPTEMBER 2017

MASTERPIECES FROM ITALIAN COLLECTIONS

Auction, 0219
FLORENCE
Palazzo Ramirez Montalvo
Borgo degli Albizi,26

6:00 p.m.
Viewing
FLORENCE
22-27 September 2017
10 am -  7 pm 
Palazzo Ramirez-Montalvo
Borgo degli Albizi, 26
info@pandolfini.it
 
 
 
Estimate   0 € - 220000 €

All categories

1 - 13  of 13
1

Giovanni della Robbia

(Florence 1469 - 1529/1530)

 

COAT OF ARMS AND CREST OF THE BARTOLINI (BARTOLINI SALIMBENI) FAMILY, SURROUNDED BY A GARLAND OF FRUIT, FOLIAGE AND FLOWERS WITH SMALL ANIMALS, CIRCA 1520

 

A polychrome tin-glazed terracotta medallion; garland diam. cm 85; bowl diam. cm 58

 

 

Provenance

Florence, Bartolini Salimbeni family (from the Casino di Gualfonda?);

Ansbach, Georg Ebert Collection (ante 1956);

Milan, private collection?;

Würzburg, Peter Lockner Collection, inherited by his son Richard Lockner (between 1970 circa and 2005);

Munich, Hampel Fine Art Auctions (23 September 2005, lot 322);

Italy, private collection

 

Literature

R. Dionigi (a cura di), Stemmi robbiani in Italia e nel mondo. Per un catalogo araldico, storico e artistico, Firenze 2014, p. 113 n. 29

 

Comparative literature

Idelfonso di San Luigi, Istoria genealogica delle famiglie de’Salimbeni di Siena e de’ marchesi Bartolini Salimbeni di Firenze, in Del Magnifico Lorenzo de’ Medici, cronica scritta dal senatore Gherardo Bartolini Salimbeni, colla storia genealogica di questa illustre casata, Firenze 1786, pp. 81-434;

E. Ceramelli Papiani, Raccolta. Blasoni delle famiglie toscane, ms. sec. XX, Archivio di Stato di Firenze;

A. Marquand, Robbia Heraldry, Princeton 1919;

A. Marquand, Giovanni della Robbia, Princeton 1920;

L. Ginori Lisci, Gualfonda. Una antico palazzo ed un giardino scomparso, Firenze 1953;

L. Ginori Lisci, I palazzi di Firenze nella storia e nell’arte, 2 voll., Firenze 1972;

R. A. Goldthwaite, The Building of Renaissance Florence. An Economic and Social History, Baltimore - London 1980;

D. Gallo, Iacopo Sansovino, il Bacco e la sua fortuna, Firenze 1986;

R. Ciabani, Le famiglie di Firenze, 4 voll., Firenze 1992;

G. Gentilini, I Della Robbia. La scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento, 2 voll., Firenze 1992;

M. Vannucci, Le grandi famiglie di Firenze, Roma 1994;

M. Lingohr, Der Florentiner Palastbau der Hochrenaissance. Der Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni in seinem historischen und architekturgeschichtlichen Kontext, Worms 1997;

I Della Robbia e l’“arte nuova” della scultura invetriata, catalogo della mostra (Fiesole, Basilica di Sant’Alessandro, 29 maggio - 1 novembre 1998), a cura di G. Gentilini, Firenze 1998;

F. Quinterio, Natura e architettura nella bottega robbiana, Ivi, pp. 57-85;

M. G. Vaccari, Tecniche e metodi di lavorazione, Ivi, pp. 97-116;

M. Mangiavacchi - E. Pacini, Arte e natura in Toscana. Gli elementi naturalistici e il paesaggio negli artisti dal Trecento al Cinquecento, Pisa 2002;

I Della Robbia. Il dialogo tra le Arti nel Rinascimento, catalogo della mostra (Arezzo, Museo Statale d’Arte Medievale e Moderna, 21 febbraio - 7 giugno 2009), a cura di G. Gentilini, Milano 2009;

G. Gentilini, T. Mozzati, “Naturalia” e “mirabilia” nell’ornato architettonico e nell’arredo domestico, Ivi, pp. 144-151;

M. G. Vaccari, Le robbiane. Appunti sulla tecnica e sugli aspetti commerciali, Ivi, pp. 76-85;

S. Salomone, Il Casino di Gualfonda a Firenze. “Il decoro della casa e la piacevolezza della villa”, tesi di dottorato in Storia dell’Architettura e dell’Urbanistica, Università di Firenze, 2011

 

Surrounded by a richly decorated garland, full of fruits and flowers and interspersed with small animals, this sophisticated and elegant coat of arms, resulting from a highly skilled craftsmanship, is surmounted by the crest of the family, which stands out from a precious and finely gadrooned bowl in the deep blue colour of lapis lazuli and is enframed within a thick moulded frame. This work and, in particular, the patronage of the Bartolini family during the Florentine Renaissance, contributed to identifying this refined medallion as one of the most valuable works of the vast heraldic production of Della Robbia in private collections.

As is well-known, coats of arms and heraldic ornaments played a special role in the vast tin-glazed terracotta production of Della Robbia, jealously handed down for over a century in the Florentine workshop of Via Guelfa through the commitment of three generations: Luca - sculptor, celebrated by the contemporaries as one of the pioneers of Renaissance style -, his prolific nephew Andrea and his five sons, Marco, Giovanni, Luca 'the Young', Francesco and Girolamo (Gentilini 1992, I Della Robbia 1998, Idem 2009). The production of works in enamelled terracotta painted with brilliant and long-lasting polychrome pigments guaranteed a very effective and, above all, constant representation of the coats of arms. In fact, thanks to the graceful and elegant ability to create garlands enriched with all the gifts of nature - similar to the realistic decorations of the classical artists described by Plinius (Gentilini - Mozzati 2009) -, the coats of arms of Della Robbia soon became very famous and were considered one of the most representative and appreciated artistic expressions of Della Robbia. This is testified by numerous publications on the production of Della Robbia written by scholars such as Allan Marquand (1919) or more recently, Renzo Dionigi (2014). Dionigi also identified the work that we are presenting here, attributed to Giovanni della Robbia and dated around 1520 (Dionigi 2014, p. 113, no. 29).

Having been out of view for quite a few decades, this coat of arms, which reappeared in 2005 on the international art market (Munich, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, 23rd September 2005, lot 322) and then passed to an Italian private collection, is well documented in one of the mid-twentieth-century photos and is ascribed to Giovanni. One of these photos, at the Zeri Foundation in Bologna, seems to suggest that this work passed through a private collection in Milan, while another one, held in the photographic archive of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, suggests that it belonged to the Georg Ebert Collection in Ansbach (1885 - 1956). Some letters allow us to establish that until 2005, this work was in Würzburg for about thirty-five years in the collection of a well-known art dealer, Peter Lockner (1936 - 2002/3) and was then inherited by his son Richard.

The coat of arms of the Bartolini Salimbeni family presents "a silver and black lion on a red shield-form background" (Ceramelli Papiani, sec. XX, fasc. 445): the red colour, absent in the palette of Della Robbia is replaced by a brown shade, while silver is replaced by the white colour, according to the heraldic rules. This lively rampant lion, represented as 'flattened', and characterized in its muzzle and thick mane by vibrant black enamelled strokes, is depicted in the centre of a very elegant and refined moulded shield. The two lateral ends of the shield are embellished with threatening eagle's heads whose feathers cover the edge and with a yellow glazed decoration recalling a golden ornament. In the central part of the shield the traditional crest of the family is replaced by the de' Medici diamond ring with the gem encircled by green leaves and crossed by three poppy seeds tied together with a ribbon inscribed with the motto “P(ER). N(ON). D.O.(R)M(IRE). SE.(M)PER” (For not sleeping).

This emblem symbolizes the vigilant, laborious and diligent commitment of this important wealthy Florentine family, that moved from Siena at the beginning of the 14th century to trade on wool (the original Salimbeni surname, later changed to Bartolini, was resumed around the half of the seventeenth century). It is said that a Bartolini concluded a particularly lucrative deal after giving his rivals sleeping substances, like poppy seeds, during a banquet. The eagles, not often represented in the heraldic production of Della Robbia and traditionally recalling the evangelist John, may, instead, refer to Giovanni Bartolini who commissioned the work and was one of the most prestigious and refined patrons of the Florentine Renaissance (Ildefonso di San Luigi 1786; Ciabani 1992, III, pp. 634-636; Vannucci 2006).

The coat of arms stands out from the gadrooned bowl, enamelled in deep blue to simulate the precious lapis lazuli stones, and is embedded within a 'band' frame inside a moulded egg-and-dart inner border, glazed in white to resemble marble, and covered in the centre by the crest with a refined space solution. The diameter of the bowl is one Florentine braccio, that of the frame one and a half braccia. The medallion is framed by a copious, colourful garland with foliage which combines the classical motifs with a renovated modern style. This abundant wreath, characteristic of the renown Della Robbia production (Quinterio 1998; Mangiavacchi - Pacini 2002, pp. 172-179, 182, 204-206), is infact interspersed with a wide variety of fruits (oranges, pine cones, quinces, black grapes, figs, citrons) and vegetables (broad beans, cucumbers, garlic bulbs), each with its specific foliage and flowers, alternated with numerous poppy seeds - with their heraldic significance - and with other white and light blue small flowers (bellflowers, wild roses, jasmines ?). Hidden among the leaves three small animals appear: a sinuous lizard, a tiny frog and a snail coming out of its shell - probably shaped using real animals following a recurring technique in the works of Giovanni della Robbia, as described in the short treaty of Cennino Cennini (about 1400) and well attested in the bronze and terracotta sculptures of the Florentine Renaissance, that later inspired the production and diffusion of the extravagant 'rustic' pottery of Bernard Palissy in the middle of the sixteenth century.

The composition of this garland, developed counter-clockwise, follows a precise regular structure in accordance with the geometric mathematical criteria theorized by Leon Battista Alberti (1436) that focused on a "varietas" regulated by the "compositio". The fruits of larger dimensions are in fact placed together in eight bunches, each consisting of three fruits of the same species to form a triangle in order to combine citrus fruits (oranges, citrons) and yellow fruits (quinces) with other elements with deeper colours (pine cones, black grapes, poppy seeds, cucumbers). In addition, two symmetrical pairs of flowers (mainly those of the specific fruit) are added to each bunch together with smaller flowers of various colours.

The formal compositional rigour of this garland - a feature that characterizes the best works of Della Robbia distinguishing them from other works of artists such as Benedetto and Santi Buglioni - is reflected in the technical craftsmanship of this medallion, resulting from the established practice of this artist and, in particular, in his ability to slowly dry, fire and transport the terracotta work (Vaccari 1998; 2009). The medallion is in fact made up of seven pieces: the shield, the moulded bowl and the wreath divided into four segments (each containing two groups of fruits). Carefully emptied in order to give to the clay a thin and uniform aspect, these elements were hollow on the back with a box-like structure and reinforced with a supportive framework and air holes behind the larger fruits, which were shaped by adhering the clay to the band of the frame.

Following the above-mentioned heraldic elements, this work probably dates around 1520 as suggested, as we will see, by the type of shield and of wreath and by some documents that testify the long-standing and refined patronage of Giovanni Bartolomeo di Leonardo Bartolini (1472 - 1544). Passionate "builder", also on behalf of his four brothers - Gherardo, Lorenzo, Zanobi, Cassandra -, Giovanni commissioned to Baccio d'Agnolo, between 1520 and 1523, the innovative, elegant palace overlooking the church of Santa Trinita (Ginori Lisci 1972, pp. 171-178, no. 13; Lingohr 1997), after having enlarged around 1500 the family palaces in Porta Rossa by incorporating the Monaldi Tower (Ginori Lisci 1972, pp. 169 -170, no. 12), and having restored the ancient 'Palagio dei Pini' purchased in 1493 in Rovezzano (today Villa Favard). Between 1507 and 1525, Giovanni also built the so-called "Casino of Delight" of Gualfonda (or Valfonda Palace) with its vast, magnificent garden extending near the city walls in the area now occupied by Santa Maria Novella Train Station (Gomori Lisci 1953; Idem 1972, pp. 317-322, no. 42; Salomone 2011). Probably constructed by the same architect, these buildings were surmounted by the same crest and motto that we find in our medallion.

The accounting books of Giovanni Bartolini (held today in the archives of Bartolini Salimbeni Vivai in Villa di Collina near Vicchio di Mugello, of which partial excerpts are mentioned in this bibliography) confirm the privileged relationship with Della Robbia. In these books are also recorded the numerous and famous artists - Lorenzetto, Tribolo, il Cicilia, Nanni Unghero, Francesco and Giovanni del Tasso, Andrea Feltrini, Alonso Berruguete and others - who contributed to the furnishings of these dwellings. Among them, it is worth noting the young Jacopo Sansovino who, as Vasari stated, created the famous marble Baccus for Gualfonda in 1510-12, held today in the National Museum of Bargello, that stands on a lost base carved by Benedetto da Rovezzano in 1519 (Gallo 1986).

In 1521 (or in 1523, according to Goldthwaite 1980, p. 403, note 10), "Luca d'Andrea", or Luca della Robbia 'the Young' (Florence 1475 - Paris 1548), Giovanni's younger brother, was paid six fiorini - a triple price in comparison to what was usually paid to Della Robbia for the renown podestà family crests - for a "garland and a glazed coat of arms for the ground-floor room of the Church of Santa Trinita", and also for a "tondo with foliage to adorn the loggia's vault" (Ginori Lisci 1972, pp. 175, 178 note 8). The medallions embellished by two garlands with the crest of the Bartolini family were identified as belonging to the collection of Marquis Luigi Torrigiani in 1861: one of them with its magnificent coat of arms passed to the Museum of Bargello in 1939, while the other was probably disassembled by the previous owners. Of this marvellous masterpiece of Della Robbia, only a more modest version is known at the Musée National de la Renaissance in Écouen (Gentilini 1992, pp. 333-334, 370 note 33-3, Dionigi 2014, p.175 no.146, p.144 no. 98).

In 1520, Andrea della Robbia acted as mediator on behalf of an unspecified "friend" for the payment of "a bronze child on a dolphin" destined to the Bartolini Palace of Santa Trinita (Ginori Lisci 1972, p. 178 note 9); this subject was also reproduced in a famous tin-glazed terracotta (previously in London, Alex Wengraf Ltd.) attributed to Giovanni della Robbia (F. Domestici in I Della Robbia 1998, pp. 269-270, III.12). In March of the previous year, Giovanni had already received a down payment through his "brother", for "a child," perhaps a putto or a spiritello (a winged infant of a sprite), to embellish a fountain in the Casino di Gualfonda (Ginori Lisci 1953, pp. 10, 22, note 12, Idem 1972, pp. 318, 322, note 5). An involvement that can thus confirm the attribution and dating of our coat of arms, and suggests, albeit cautiously, that it was originally destined to the same building.

In addition, all the elements that characterise this medallion, like the copious decoration of the garland with its richly decorated fruits and leaves and its lively small animals, the moulded shape of the shield with raised sides, the refined coat of arms and the niche in the background, painted with brilliant enamel pigments, and the details outlined by black strokes, contribute to ascribing this work, dated around 1520, to Giovanni della Robbia. These features are also confirmed by the numerous and famous works signed or documented, among which the innovative Tabernacle of Fonticine located along Via Nazionale in Florence, dating back to 1522 (Marquand 1920, Gentilini 1992, pp. 279-238). And even more significant evidence emerges from the rich heraldic production attributed to Giovanni, such as the sumptuous coats of arms of the Pazzi and Del Monte families in the Contini Bonacossi Collection and today at the Uffizi, the Minerbetti coat of arms in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York or the numerous heraldic examples of coats of arms still preserved on the facades of the most important palaces of Florence, that can therefore be dated with certainty, such as the coat of arms of Andrea Particini at Pieve Santo Stefano (1516), that of Bernardo de' Medici at Certaldo (1519) or that of Bindaccio Ricasoli (1514) and Lorenzo Lapi (1526) at Scarperia (Dionigi 2014, p.128, no. 64, p.169, no. 137, p.170, no. 138, p.225, no. 237, p. 290, no. 378, p. 294, no. 384).

Giovanni was in fact the most independent and prolific artist among the sons of Andrea who worked together in the workshop in Via Guelfa until their father's death in 1525. Giovanni's works - which were the only works sometimes signed by the artist - distinguish themselves among the vast koinè of the Della Robbia production of the first half of the sixteenth century for a more distinctive and original decoration which reflect a classical and naturalistic style.

 

Giancarlo Gentilini

Florence, August 28th, 2017

 

Estimate   € 100.000 / 150.000
Price realized  Registration
2

DISH
URBINO, FRANCESCO XANTO AVELLI, 1537

Polychrome earthenware painted in two shades of green, cobalt blue, yellow, yellow-orange, brownish manganese and tin white.

Diam. cm 26,2, foot diam. cm 9,5, high cm 2

On the back, inscription: 1537./L’i[n]avvertito Cephal/Procri uccide./.F.X./.R.

An old tag on the back reads: Vente de la collection de M. le Conte G. de Larderel/5 e 6 mai 1877. N. [21] du catalogue/comm. pr. Ch. Pillet – Expert Ch. Mannheim.

 

Provenance

Pasolini Collection, Faenza;

Larderel Collection, Paris;

Private Collection, Paris;

Private Collection, Milan

 

Literature

L. Frati, Del Museo Pasolini in Faenza. Descrizione, Bologna 1852, p. 15 no. 59;

Catalogue des Faiences Italiennes… Composant la belle Collection de M. le C.te G. de L., Paris 1877, p. 8 no. 21;

E.P. Sani, Per un catalogo delle opere attribuibili a Xanto: una ricognizione sulla sua produttività e sul suo complesso apparato figurativo, linguistico ed erudito, Faenza 2007, p.187; 192 figg. 9a, 9b, in “Faenza” XCIII (2007), no. IV-VI, pp. 181-198;

E.P. Sani, List of works by or attributable to Francesco Xanto Avelli, p. 199 no. 334, in J.V.G. Mallet, Xanto. Pottery-painter, Poet, Man of the Italian Renaissance, exhibition catalogue, Wallace Collection, London 2007

 

The dish presents a deep cavetto and a wide, gently sloping rim and stands on a short foot without footring. The use of enamel is abundant and brilliant with green traces on the back of the dish. The painter made a large and skilful use of polychromy and, in particular, of pigments with cold tones as evident in the various shades of green, blue and light blue. For the dresses of the figures the artist chooses the yellow-orange colour while for the architectural elements he prefers light colours and thin brushstrokes to better highlight the enamelled background. The tin-white touches illuminate the faces of the figures and contribute to give depth to the landscape.

The scene depicts an uneven and diversified landscape: a small wood of trees can be seen on the right of the scene, while a broken tree trunk stands opposite; an arched building with a high pinnacled tower completes the scene on the left leaving a landscape with mountains to fill the rest of the  background. In the centre a female figure is blowing in a bellows towards a kneeling woman with joined hands, looking up to the sky. Hidden in the trees, a young man is raising a spear to throw it. The brownish manganese inscription on the back of the plate explains: L’i[n]avvertito Cephal / Procri uccide.

This scene describes the myth of Cephalus and Procris, recounted by Ovid in the "Metamorphoses" (Metamorphosis, VII, 661-865) and often reproduced in paintings and miniatures. This myth also gained great success thanks to the adapted version with happy ending, performed on the stage by Niccolò da Correggio on the occasion of a noble wedding in Ferrara at the end of the fifteenth century.

The story deals with the unfortunate love of Cephalus and Procris caused by jealous deities: after numerous betrayals and difficulties, the two spouses finally meet again, but the jealousy of Procris towards the goddess Aurora, reason of their first separation, leads the woman to follow her husband  during a hunt, suspecting his unfaithfulness. The doubts are aroused by some rumours that the man has entrusted the wind to send for a certain breeze, "Aura", to come and soothe him from the strains of hunting; Cephalus, instead, invokes the wind to cool him when he is hot and tired. The young man, armed with an unerring spear, thinking that some wild animal is hiding in the bushes, throws his weapon towards the sound, accidentally wounding his wife.

The composition by Xanto Avelli appears, as usual, intense and allusive. In fact, the central symbolic figure of the woman blowing in a bellows can be interpreted in two different ways: on the one side, she makes the rustling sound that causes the deadly launch of Cephalus, and on the other side, she embodies the Fame reporting the misunderstood words of Cephalus to his kneeling bride, blinded by Love that is covering up her eyes with a veil.

As often happens in his works, this majolica master craftsman of Rovigo  often recurred to engravings, as we can see in our dish. The central figure, one of the most frequently depicted by this painter, is a copy inspired by one of the young girls (see fig. 1) of Giangiacomo Carraglio's engraving depicting The Contest between the Muses and the Pierides by Rosso Fiorentino (Bartsch 28, p. 186, no. 53). The figure of Cephalus is, instead, drawn from a figure in the background (see fig. 2) of the engraving of Marcantonio Raimondi depicting David Slaying Goliath by Raphael (Bartsch 27, p. 19, no. 10-I.12) while that of Love is a copy of one of the putti (see fig. 3) of the engraving Parnassus of Marcantonio Raimondi by Raphael (Bartsch 26, p. 244 no. 247). The source of Procris' figure has not been identified yet, even if it also appears on a plate, dated between 1535 and 1540, depicting Saint Catherine of Alessandria, attributed to Francesco Xanto Avelli and held in the Museum of Ecouen (inv no. ECL 2344).

The myth of Cephalus and Procris was also represented in two other works, confirming the success of the Ovidian myth in the workshop of Xanto in Rovigo. The first plate of secure attribution to Xanto Avelli is held at the  Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York (inv. n. 27.97.41) and bears on the back the black inscription: “.1533./l’inaveduto Cephal/procri uccide./Nel .VII. libro dOuidioMet:/.fra:Xanto. A./Rovigiese I/Urbino”. It shares with our dish the same source of inspiration, as evident in the young Cephalus, who is, however, more similar to the original engraving in comparison to the more richly dressed figure in our plate. The second plate, dated about 1532,  was originally in the set of dishes of Leonardi and is now held in the Museum of Pesaro (Inv.C.S. 155). It bears on the back the inscription "de Aurora e Cefalo", probably ascribable to Nicola di Urbino's hand. The compositions of these dishes differ, however, in the narrative choice, as well as in the representation and position of the figures in the scene and result in different interpretations of the subject. In our dish the mature style of the artist becomes more elaborate and standardized.

This dish was analysed and published by Elisa Paola Sani in occasion of the conference on Francesco Xanto Avelli at the Wallace Collection of London in 2007 and then included in the exhibition catalogue among the works attributed to the painter. The scholar suggested that the dish belonged to the Pasolini Collection of Faenza and in the catalogue (see fig. 4) in the chapter Lavori dell’epoca buona con indicazione dell’artefice. Di Francesco Xanto Rovigino vasaio di Urbino (Works of good epoch with attribution to the author. Of Francesco Xanto Rovigino potter of Urbino) at number 59 quotes: "Another very beautiful [dish], depicting Cephalus, who accidentally kills Procri. Rovigo. 1537 ". An old label on the back of the plate suggests instead that the dish passed from the Larderel Collection in Paris and was then auctioned at Hotel Drouot in 1877 (see fig. 5).

 

Estimate   € 70.000 / 100.000
3

SHALLOW BOWL
FAENZA, BALDASSARRE MANARA OR HIS WORKSHOP, AROUND 1540

Polychrome earthenware painted in orange, antimony yellow, green, blue, brownish manganese, black, brown and tin white.

High cm 4,2, diam. cm 22,1, foot diam cm 12,8

 

Provenance

Adda Collection, London;

Collection d’un grand amateur, Palais Galliera, Paris,  November, 29th 1965, no. 574;

Caruso Collection, Sotheby’s, London,  March, 20th 1973, no. 38;

Private Collection, Milan

 

Literature

B. Rackham, Islamic Pottery and Italian Maiolica. Illustrated Catalogue of a Private Collection, London 1959, no. 299;

F. Liverani, R. Bosi, Maioliche di Faenza, Imola 1974, pp. 54 et seq. no. XI;

C. Ravanelli Guidotti, Baldassare Manara Faentino pittore di maioliche nel Cinquecento, Ferrara 1996, p. 230 no. A8

 

 

This shallow bowl presents a concave cavetto and a raised edge, ending with a  thin rounded rim and stands on a short foot with a slightly arched rim.

The scene develops through the entire bowl length including the concave cavetto, and depicts the Annunciation: the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin are portrayed following iconographic canons of the Renaissance. In the centre of the scene the two figures are separated by the bookstand which symbolizes the prayer and the meditation of the Virgin Mary waiting to accomplish her mission. On the right, we see Gabriel raising his right index finger, pointing at the sky and holding a long lily with his left hand, as a symbol of the spiritual motherhood of Mary, while on the left, the kneeling Virgin is receiving the Archangel's message with humility and praying with joined hands. This representation features many architectural elements, including a tiled floor, a palace with vaulted arches, some columns and large cornices behind the Virgin and a circular tower behind the Archangel. A high crenellated wall encloses the entire scene as a hortus conclusus and leaves outside in the background a landscape with mountains and a winding white street.

The entirely ochre-painted back of the dish has an imbricate motif and yellow bands with light blue brushstrokes.

Despite the abundant use of enamel and of pigments, the drawing appears inaccurate and imperfect and lacks the grace that normally characterizes the works of the painter. The pigments are carefully applied on this shallow bowl, even if some baking flaws and some discoloration on the rim are evident on the back of the dish.

Although without the artist's signature, this shallow bowl has been attributed to Baldassare Manara or to his workshop and has been mentioned among the uncertain works in the monograph on Baldassarre Manara (op. cit, p. 230 no. A8) by Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti. The careful attribution of this dish, due to the "imperfection of the drawing", has not prevented scholars from ascribing this work, which belonged to the renowned Adda Collection of London, to the master of Faenza or to his workshop. The characters' faces recall the other master's works and probably take inspiration from engravings in the artist's workshop. In fact, the kneeling Virgin with joined hands is similar to another one in the scene of the Adoration of the Shepherds (Bartsch?), even if with a more incisive line: here the figure of the kneeling Virgin is inspired by an engraving of Marcantonio Raimondi after Francia (fig. 1), that was also widespread in other workshops of Faenza.

The rapid drawing style and less accuracy of the composition, however, do not exclude to ascribe this work to Baldassare. In fact, if we ignore the reference to the above-mentioned engraving, this work is characterized by a certain expressive freedom in the subject, which contributes to the hypothesis that the master was "accustomed" to decorating pottery. In her analysis, Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti highlights some elements of this work: first of all, the rapid execution of the composition, second, a pictorial incongruity between the roughness of the stroke in the main scene and the ability to apply the chiaroscuro technique on the landscape in the background, and, third, the lack of some complementary symbolic elements present in the representations of the Annunciation, such as the dove and the central bookstand.

However, the artist of this shallow bowl seems to be an expert in the intensive use of pigments and in the technique of the enamel decoration, here rich in bright colours: absent are, instead, the white touches and only in the background the painter uses a very marked white touch on the architectural elements.

Since the large corpus of the works of Baldassarre Manara includes dozens of works, a detailed stylistic comparison could contribute to find similarities between Manara and the peculiar style of this painter.

Some scholars of Faenza have attributed the back of this shallow bowl to the workshop of Baldassare Manara or to other works ascribable to the master, as already specified by Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti. The decoration on the back is similar to another one on the back of a dish depicting Venus in Vulcan's Forge (Inv. c. 2113-1910) at the Victoria and Albert Museum of London. This proves that this decorative motif, recurring in various forms, was very popular in the workshops of Faenza in the first thirty years of the sixteenth century (like, for example, in the shallow bowl dated 1523 held at the Louvre Museum , inv. OA7579).

We would like to highlight the likely contribution of this artist in the painting of the faces of the two figures. This hypothesis derives from the comparison with  two faces depicted on a magnificent dish with a battle at the Victoria and Albert Museum (Inv. c. 2112-1910): the knight's face on his skittish horse, on the left of the dish, is similar to that of the Virgin in our shallow bowl, as well as the foot soldier wearing a yellow lorica and turning his back, on the right of the scene, recalls the Archangel Gabriel's face (see fig. 2).

Similar to our dish, also in the rigidity of the line, is the extraordinary signed bowl at the John Paul Getty Museum depicting Saint Peter Saint Chiara and Saint Martyr (C. Hess, Italian Ceramics. Catalogue of the J. Paul Getty Museum Collection, Los Angeles 2002, pp. 170-173 no. 30, dated around 1535). The same gesture of the finger pointing at the sky represents a sort of stylistic hint for the figure of the Archangel of our plate. On her monograph on Baldassare Manara, Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti also highlights how this gesture represents a distinctive feature of the artist, whose figures “have stocky hands and short fingers ... with the index finger solemnly pointing at or raised to the sky” (op. cit., p. 67 figg. 19-19d).

This work could perhaps be included among the more mature works of Baldassarre Manara, in the years before his death around 1546/47 according to Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti (in a document dated June, 20th 1547 his wife is called “olim uxor”).

This dish appeared in the catalogue of the famous Adda Collection (see fig. 3), attributed by Rackham in 1959 to a workshop of Faenza. It was sold on the art market in 1973 as belonging to the workshop of Baldassare Manara, as confirmed by Bosi and Liverani in their publication of the following year.

 

Estimate   € 70.000 / 100.000
4

SHALLOW BOWL
URBINO, OF THE CIRCLE OF FRANCESCO XANTO AVELLI, PAINTER “LU UR” (“L”), LUSTERED IN GUBBIO OR IN URBINO (“N”), 1535

High cm 4, diam. cm 25,2, foot diam. cm 10,4

Polychrome earthenware painted in two shades of green, cobalt blue, yellow, yellow-orange, brownish manganese, golden lustre and ruby.

On the back, inscription in black manganese: .1535./Bruto di porzia/Sua l’ardie ripre[n]de/L; N mark in lustre

 

Provenance

Robert Bak, New York (even if not included in the sale of the collection, Sotheby’s, London, December, 7th 1965);

Sprovieri Collection, Rome;

Private Collection, Milan

 

Literature

J.V.G. Mallet, Xanto: i suoi compagni e seguaci, in “Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi 1980”, Rovigo 1988, p. 76 note 47;

T. Wilson, Il pittore di maiolica “Lu Ur”, in “Fimantiquari” 2, no. 2, 1993, fig. 9, 10;

T. Wilson, Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance, Milan 1996, pp. 227-229 no. 96

 

This shallow bowl presents a concave moulding with a short edge ending with a thin rounded rim and stands on a short foot with a jetting rim. The decoration is particularly rich in enamel and pigments, as evident in the use of black manganese, yellow-orange, made more vibrant through small parallel dots in lustre, and lustre cobalt blue with tin-glazed shadings.

Complex and full of pathos, the scene develops through the entire bowl length including the cavetto: it portrays a closed room with a high fireplace, a decorated window and some steps where the figure of Portia stands out, sitting on a high-backed chair surmounted by a canopy and surrounded by her handmaids. She has just found out about the conspiracy of her husband, Marcus Junius Brutus, against Julius Caesar and has promised to kill herself in the case the plot had failed. To prove her courage and her determination, she is depicted while hurting her foot. After Brutus' death, his wife keeps her promise and kills herself by swallowing hot coals.

The theme represented is the resistance to tyranny until the extreme sacrifice of the life to keep the honour. In ancient times this theme was widely discussed: Dante, for example, judges Portia as a traitor, while Petrarch praises her as a symbol of virtue against tyranny. Timothy Wilson, who studied this work, mentions the influence of Xanto Avelli and of his Petrarchism on many artists of his circle.

The painting technique is fast. It does not apparently seem that this artist was strongly influenced by the engravings of the time. It is more likely that he took inspiration from them as evident in some figures of this dish: from the engraving, the Battaglia del coltellaccio by Marco da Ravenna (Bartsch XIV, p. 171, no. 211) derives the figure of Brutus, here depicted with the head turned in the opposite direction (see fig. 1), while the female figures (see fig. 2) are drawn up from the engraving The Contest between the Muses and the Pierides by Giangiacomo Carraglio after Rosso Fiorentino (Bartsch 28, p. 186, no. 53).

The back of the dish is decorated with folds in golden lustre around thin ruby spirals: among these the letter “N”  stands out in the centre near the inscription with the date of the dish, the description of the scene and the signature. With regard to these characteristics, it is worth mentioning the description of the back of a dish published by John Mallet (Xanto. Pottery-painter, Poet, Man of the Italian Renaissance, exhibition catalogue, Wallace Collection, London 2007, pp. 88-89), and the statements of C. Fiocco and G. Gherardi on the dating of the lustre bowls (La bottega di Maestro Giorgio Andreoli e il problema dei lustri a Urbino, in “Faenza” XCIII, 2007, pp. 209-306).

The technique and the style of this dish prove a close relationship of this artist with Francesco Xanto Avelli and his signature. An exhaustive study on his signature, often visible in works with double lustre, has brought to the identification with the artist called " Lu Ur ". At first, John Mallet believed that the painter signed his works with the symbol of a hook in the years around 1535 (Istoriato-painting at Pesaro: I: The Argus Painter, in “Faenza” 66, 1980, pp. 159-160, where the signature is attributed to the Argonaut painter). Later, he ascribed to this author the works signed with the letter “L” (Xanto: i suoi compagni e seguaci, in “Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi 1980”, Rovigo 1988, pp. 75-76). In his publication (Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance, Milan 1996, pp. 203-205 and pp. 212-214), Timothy Wilson at first identified the signature with the letter “L”, which was present in some works dated 1535, and then extended it as part of the signature “Lu Ur”.

The list of dishes described by Timothy Wilson (cit. p. 228 fig. a; p. 230 fig. c and b) have contributed to give a useful interpretation also of the works without signature, like, for example, an allegorical dish at the Manchester City Gallery, or another one depicting Picus and Circe at the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford or a mythological dish depicting Mercury and Argus in a private collection, which, however, does not seem to be stylistically close to the other two. New comparative elements can, however, be added between the anonymous works and those signed or ascribable to this pupil of Avelli, who probably worked together with the master. One of these signed worked was presented by our auction house last year (G. Anversa, Importanti maioliche rinascimentali, Florence 2016, pp. 150-155 no. 33).

According to the stylistic analysis previously made by some scholars, we can confirm that the works of this painter of Urbino are characterized by some common elements like, for example, the irregular compositional arrangement of the figures, the shape of the eyes with a small white dot (this feature is also present in some other works signed by the author in collaboration with Avelli) and a certain expressive freedom in the representation of the figures. An emblematic example is the bowl with the Murder of Oropaste King of Persia (E. Sannipoli, La via della ceramica tra Umbria e Marche: maioliche rinascimentali da collezioni, Gubbio 2010, 2.39): here the style of the faces and the feet is very similar to our dish but, above all, the figure on the left of the scene closely resembles the figure of Brutus of our plate.

This work, rich in highlights, typical of the workshop of the master Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio, is signed with the letter "N". According to recent studies that have rejected the hypothesis that the works dated between 1530 and 1535 were brought to Gubbio to be lustred, the lustre application was probably applied directly in Urbino by masters coming from Gubbio upon request or commission, even for very long periods. This supposition is furthermore confirmed by the purchase in 1538 of the workshop of Nicola of Urbino by Vincenzo, son of Giorgio Andreoli, in order to open a subsidiary workshop for his activity (C. Fiocco, G. Gherardi, La bottega di Maestro Giorgio Andreoli e il problema dei lustri a Urbino, in “Faenza” XCIII, 2007, pp. 299-306).
Estimate   € 30.000 / 50.000
Price realized  Registration
5

Marco Vitruvio Pollione
(70-80 a.C. ca. – dopo il 15 a.C. ca.)
Cesare Cesariano
(1483 – 1543)

DE ARCHITECTURA LIBRI DECE TRADUCTI DE LATINO IN VULGARE.

(Como, Gottardo da Ponte, 1521).

 

Provenance
Libreria Carlo Clausen già Ermanno Loescher (grande etichetta azzurra al verso della sguardia anteriore); Sergio Colombi (ex libris figurato al contropiatto anteriore con motto "Perché giammai tedio non provi" e data di acquisto a matita al contropiatto posteriore "15 luglio 1957"); collezione privata.

 

Literature

Adams V 914. Berlin Katalog 1802. Cicognara 698. Harvard-Mortimer Italian 544. Sander 7696. PMM 26: "the most beautiful of all the early editions".

Folio (393 x 280 mm). [iv] CLXXXIII [I] [6] ll. Collation π2 A-Z8 π6. Printer’s device on title-page and on l. Z7v. 117 wood engravings, 10 of them full-page. Numerous large ornate initials. Text enclosed within commentary. Eighteenth-century binding in full vellum over boards with hand-written title on spine. Figured bookplate of Sergio Colombi on inner front cover, label of “Libreria Carlo Clausen già Ermanno Loescher” on verso of front fly. One typewritten and one hand-written card pasted to the recto of front fly and surrounded by minute hand-written notes, another loose hand-written card. Leaves π3-π8 bound at the end of the volume, probably when it received the current binding (originally they were at the beginning); title-page reinforced to outer margin; a few other reinforcements to inner and outer margins, and some minor restoration; quire “D” with a short worm-trail that has been restored on some leaves, with minimal portions of text hand-written to imitate the print; last two ll. restored at the top and with pagination and title hand-written to imitate the print; pale marginal water-stains; occasional marginalia in an old hand. Overall a very good copy, with fresh wood engravings, and with the two famous plates of the Vitruvian Man not censored.

 

CELEBRATED FIRST EDITION IN ITALIAN, EDITED BY LOMBARD ARCHITECT AND PAINTER CESARE

CESARIANO AND SPLENDIDLY ILLUSTRATED BY HIM WITH 117 WOOD ENGRAVINGS. COPY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE RENOWNED BIBLIOPHILE AND PHILANTROPIST SERGIO COLOMBI.

Considered as the theoretical foundation of all Western architecture, the De Architectura was written by Vitruvius probably between 35 and 25 BC, in the last few years of a successful career in which he was also the architect and civil engineer of Emperor Augustus – to whom the work is dedicated. Through the ten books thank compose it, Vitruvius expresses concepts that have a universal value and are still valid. He is famous for having said that a building must show the three qualities of firmitate, utilitate, venustate, i.e. to be solid, useful and beautiful, is famous. Vitruvius also defines architecture as a scientific discipline that contains all other forms of knowledge, and he introduces the architect as an expert who must have a knowledge of design, geometry, optics, mathematics, history, philosophy, music, medicine, law, astrology, astronomy.

An essential source for the study of Greek and Roman architecture and the design of large structures

(buildings, aqueducts, baths, ports, etc.) as well as smaller ones (machineries, measuring instruments,

utensils, etc.), the work deals with “the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired in the last two

Hellenistic centuries in the field of architecture and engineering. Vitruvius believes himself to be the

representative and guardian of a long tradition that he thinks has come to the degree of perfection”

[translated from Paolo Clini, http://www.centrostudivitruviani.org/studi/de-architettura/].

The De Architectura is the only classical architectural treatise that has survived intact thanks to a single copy hand-written at the court of Charlemagne at the end of the 8th century, now preserved at the British Library as a Harley Manuscript 2767. Other manuscript copies were made after that (there survive around ninety), but the essay had no influence on medieval architecture. It was rediscovered and acclaimed only from the mid-fifteenth century, thanks to Lorenzo Ghiberti, who drew from it in his Commentarii, and Leon Battista Alberti, who used it as a model for his De re edificatoria. Francesco di Giorgio Martini made a first partial translation into Italian; Raphael commissioned a private translation to collaborator and friend Fabio Calvo. However, both versions remained handwritten.

The first print edition of the work saw the light in Rome between 1486 and 1487, published by Eucharius Silber and curated by humanist Giovanni Sulpizio da Veroli. In 1511, there followed the first illustrated edition, issued in Venice by Giovanni Tacuino and curated by Giovanni Giocondo, an architect and engineer from Verona who embellished the Vitruvian text with 136 wood-engraved vignettes. Although fundamental to the understanding of the somehow obscure Latin of Vitruvius, these images are rather elementary and very different from the large and elaborate wood engravings that adorn the present edition, which was translated, commented and illustrated by the Lombard architect, engineer and painter Cesare Cesariano (1483-1543).

The merit of Cesariano is of having made the Vitruvian work accessible to everyone for the first time,

and in particular of having interpreted and depicted its contents with the technical eye of a Lombard

architect influenced by Bramante, and with the vast classical culture of a Renaissance humanist. His

translation and his commentary are an encyclopaedia of the knowledge of the time and offer an overview of its artistic world and society. Cesariano names many artists he has seen and appreciated, including Bramante, whom he defines a “tutor” and a “master” in several passages of the book, and also cites nobles from the Sforza family who loved art and architecture. Most of all, Cesariano applies the rules deduced from Vitruvius to Romanesque and Gothic monuments that he knows well and he reproduces, such as the Milan Cathedral.

In fact, three of the most important and famous plates of this edition (on leaves XIIII, XV, and XVv), are devoted to the plan, prospective sections and details of the Duomo. These are the first portraits of the Milan Cathedral in a printed book.

Just as much famous are the two large wood engraving illustrating the ideal proportions of the human

body according to Vitruvius, i.e. the homo ad quadratum and the homo ad circulum (leaves XLIX and

L). Leonardo, in his famous drawing of the Vitruvian Man, had assembled them into a single depictionOverall, the designs of Cesariano, some of which bear his “C.C.” monogram, explain accurately the text by illustrating plants, sections, prospects, details of buildings, measuring instruments, machines and equipment of various kinds. Specifically, we note: the porch of the Caryatids; walls, bastions and towers; various aeolipile models (the steam engine ancestor); the tower and rose of the winds; the discovery of fire and the first human dwellings; Greek bricks and masonry; the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; a geographical map of Italy; various types of temples and colonnades; the architectural orders; the Basilica Giulia; Greek and Latin theatres and their acoustic systems; thermal baths and gymnasiums; a harbour with hydraulic machines; Greek and Roman houses; construction methods in humid places; furnaces; aqueducts; cement and lime machines; the Pythagorean theorem and the law of Archimedes; armillary and celestial spheres; Zodiacal diagrams; various lifting and displacement equipment; various hydraulic and war machineries.

The only wood engraving out of the architectural context is the full page allegorical plate illustrating the pages in which Cesariano tells his life, “perhaps the first figured autobiography of an artist” (see Treccani).

This edition is also particularly relevant because of its complex editorial adventure: at one point, poor Cesariano was even robbed of all his work and even imprisoned. Not having the funds to publish the work, the architect relied on the noble Aloisio Pirovano and on Agostino Gallo from Como, who entrusted the printing to well-known Milanese typographer Gottardo da Ponte and placed by Cesariano’s side the two humanists Benedetto Giovio and Mauro Bono. Everything run smoothly until Book IX, when Cesariano was dismissed, forced to flee, robbed of his manuscript and matrices, and finally imprisoned, while the two sponsors and aides completed the work (1,312 copies were printed), without mentioning the true author of translation, commentary and illustrations, neither on the title page nor on the colophon. The name of Cesariano appears in fact only at the incipit and on the autobiographical pages. The architect filed a lawsuit against his detractors, which he won in 1528. This unfortunate episode did not stop him from seeing his career crowned by the appointment of “Architect of the city of Milan” in 1533. Neither it stopped him to gain an immortal fame thanks to his edition of De Architectura.

This copy belonged to the illustrious Swiss bibliophile Sergio Colombi (1887-1972), great collector of manuscripts, incunabula and precious antiquarian books. Colombi was a dynamic man with variegated interests. The constant advancement of his banking career, which led him over the years to occupying

ever higher offices, was accompanied by an unremitting commitment in the cultural life of Canton Ticino and by the magnificent obsession for the collecting of antique carpets and paintings as well as books.

Sergio Colombi was born in Bellinzona on 27 December 1887. His father Luigi was a lawyer and a prominent figure in Switzerland at the time. Colombi attended the Scuola Cantonale di Commercio, but had to forgo university studies perhaps for economic reasons. In Lugano, where he had moved for work, he met the famous antique bookseller Giuseppe Martini, with whom he began a lasting friendship. Martini enriched the collection of Colombi with numerous incunabula and manuscripts, many of which were then offered by the collector to local and Italian institutions. In 1962, Colombi gave a hundred incunabula to the Biblioteca Cantonale of Lugano, which greatly enhanced its collection of old books. In 1968, two years after the violent flood that had struck Florence in 1966 and severely damaged its book heritage, Colombi gave to the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale the precious Baruffaldi Code, a manuscript of Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata with notes and variants written by the Cardinal Scipione Gonzaga, who was a friend of Tasso’s. Thanks to this this generous donation, a few months later the Italian Ministry of Education awarded Colombi a gold medal. Finally, in January 1975, three years after the death of the illustrious bibliophile on January 13, 1972, his widow, Mrs. Valentina Colombi Bonetti, handed over to the Biblioteca Cantonale of Lugano forty-four Aldines, as her husband had requested.

The present copy features the figured bookplate of Sergio Colombi on the inner front cover, and a number of pencilled annotations on the front fly, as well as a typewritten and hand-written note, both applied to the front fly. Other notes in the same minute handwriting appear on a loose card. They could be attributed to Bianca Colombi, the younger sister of the collector, who helped him when Colombi began to have sight problems. These glosses relate information about this edition and the bibliographic repertoires that record it.

 

Estimate   € 10.000 / 15.000
Price realized  Registration
6

FLORENCE, FERDINANDO I DE’ MEDICI, DOPPIA DA DUE O SCUDO QUADRUPLO, 1591

22k gold, 13.20 gr., 30 mm.

The front of the coin shows the armoured bust of the Grand Duke facing right surrounded by the short inscription: FERDINAND DE MEDICI GRAND DUKE III OF TUSCANY. On the reverse of the coin the Annunciation, a topic very dear to the Grand Duke, is represented by two figures: a winged Archangel Gabriel, blessing and holding a long lily, symbol of purity, and the Virgin, shy and surprised by the sudden celestial revelation, sitting on a bench with an open book. The coin is surrounded by the inscription: I AM THE SERVANT OF THE LORD 1591

 

Provenance

P.& P. Santamaria, Rome 1921, Ruchat Collection (part II), lot 563. Previously in Ginori Conti Collection

 

Bibliography of references

C.N.I. (Corpus Nummorum Italicorum) vol. XII, Tuscany, Florence, A.A.V.V. Rome 1930, p. 314 no. 101

M.I.R. (Monete Italiane Regionali) vol. 9 (Florence) by A. Montagano, no. 208

A. Pucci, Le Monete della Zecca di Firenze, epoca Medicea, Ferdinando I (1587-1609) 2010, p. 54 no. 23b

 

Technical Description

Mint: Florence

Nominal Value: Coin Pair or Quadruple Scudo

Issuing Authority: Ferdinand I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1587 – 1609)

Year of issue: 1591. Number of coins to be issued: 1,260, each weighting 13.504 gr.  

Issuing Value: 38.8 Lire.

Engravers of coins: Michele Mazzafirri or Lorenzo della Neva

Metrological features: 22k gold, 13.20 gr., 30 mm.

Degree of rarity: extremely rare

Condition: beautiful

Front of the coin: FERD • M • MAGN • DVX • ETRURIÆ • III Armoured bust of the Grand Duke facing right

Reverse of the coin: ECCE • ANCILLA • DO MINI • The Annunciation. Exergue 1591

 

In 1587, at the age of thirty-eight, Ferdinand I succeeded to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany to his brother; he was the sixth son of the Grand Duke Cosimo I and of the Grand Duchess Eleanor of Toledo, daughter of the Spanish Viceroy of Naples. After becoming Grand Duke, he kept the position of cardinal untilhe was forced, for dynastic reasons, to renounce to it to marry the Princess Maria Christina of Lorraine. In many situations the behaviour of Ferdinand I was opposite to that of his brother and predecessor Francis I. Gentle and generous, he exerted his power with a mild-mannered attitude. In fact, he was always interested in the well-being of his people. He also restored the judicial system, reorganized corporations, duties and in particular the bureaucratic apparatus, and promoted a fiscal reform. He diverted part of the stream of the Arno river into a canal that greatly improved the connection between Florence and Pisa. From a military point of view, Ferdinand I sustained both Philip III of Spain in the Algerian campaign and the Holy Roman Empire against the Turks. He also promoted the formation of an efficient navy and repeatedly defeated the fleets of pirates and Turks. In the field of art, he carried on the great patronage of the Medici family: among the most important commissions, Ferdinand I commissioned, for example, to Buontalenti Forte Belvedere and to Giambologna the statue of his father, Cosimo I, that can be still admired today in Piazza della Signoria.
Estimate   € 40.000 / 60.000
7

BUREAU CABINET WITH FALL FRONT AND HIGH TOP
VENICE, MID-18TH CENTURY

Chestnut veneered and chestnut briar root and bois de rose frames and internal and secret drawers; the upper section with lateral panelled doors is internally decorated with mythological figures framed by elegant yellow-ochre rocailles on a faux background; rich copings and carved giltwood additions, 260x165x70 cm

 

Comparative literature

G. Morrazoni, Il Mobile Veneziano del ’700, Milano 1958, vol. II, tavv. CCCLXIX, CCCLXXII;

C. Santini, Mille Mobili Veneti. L’arredo domestico in Veneto dal sec. XV al sec. XIX, Modena 2002, pp. 73-76

 

This bureau cabinet with two front and two lateral copings, made of large carved giltwood frameworks to frame the typical carved glasses, can be admired on all sides together with its lightness and elongated shape. Under each coping a panelled door, each decorated with a mirror, opens to a surprising interior: together with the traditional numerous compartments for porcelain and precious objects, the panels and drawers of this piece of furniture are embellished by mythological deities, enriched by rocailles and by finely decorated yellow-ochre putti on a faux wood background; in the upper half-moon openings two winged putti hold two coats of arms, probably belonging to the families that commissioned this cabinet in occasion of their wedding. The paintings were conventionally attributed to the famous painter Marco Marcola of Verona (1740-1793), whose decorations ranged from signs, furniture, sedans and gondolas.

The lower section of this bureau cabinet, entirely veneered in chestnut and chestnut briar root, reveals a rich interior with small drawers and secret drawers, elegantly framed within bois de rose frameworks. This imposing and rare bureau cabinet is characterized by elegant giltwood decorations, pilasters on the inferior legs and vine branches on the upper legs. All these features, together with the movements of the lines on the furniture, where to an exuberant movement on the front corresponds an elegant and rounded one on the sides, represents the apogee of the Venetian craftsmanship in cabinet making, whose precious pieces were addressed to wealthy and elegant customers. 

In French, the word trumeau originally defined the central pillar of a portal in the Gothic architecture but later, after the 18th century, it indicated the mirror hung in the corresponding space. This trumò, as pronounced in Italian, very soon became the pre-eminent and main piece of furniture in the elegant living rooms of the palaces of the Venetian aristocracy. Although they continued to keep the monumental proportions of the seventeenth-century, these pieces of furniture, more light and elegant in their shapes, became more functional: not only they represented the status of the owner, but they were also used as chest of drawers, desks and cabinets. The most expert craftsmanship and creativity was necessary to organize the interior spaces in order to create hidden drawers for the most important secrets.

In the half of the 18th century, the bureau cabinets, commissioned for the suburban villas, “casini” of the aristocracy of Veneto, became smaller to enter the more intimate and private rooms with lower ceilings of these dwellings, where the Venetian aristocracy spent the time in pleasant conversations accompanied by the music of a spinet piano and by the tinkling of porcelain cups. The decoration of this new kind of furniture was often made in soft lacquered colours or in arte povera in order to soften the already small proportions.

The traditional impressive chestnut veneered bureau cabinets, with their wavy lines and scrolled elements, similar to the one presented here, continued, however, to be exhibited in the large gilded salons of the richly decorated palaces, that the Venetian aristocracy opened for important events and ceremonies to celebrate both the splendour of the families and that Venice itself.

This rare and incredibly well-preserved piece of furniture can be compared to other bureau cabinets today in important collections, such as the one once in the Emanuele and Franco Subert Collection in Milan, auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2014 (see fig. 1), or the ones in the G.S. Collection and in the Tullio Silva Collection (see fig. 2-3), similar to ours in their curvy structure and in the richly carved decorations around the engraved mirrors.

Peculiar element of this bureau cabinet is the frontal double coping with carved mirror, depicting Mercury firing an arrow against Psyche to bring her to Olympus to her future groom, Love, and the side coping with mirrors, decorated with winged putti holding flowers. The presence of the two mythological figures of Mercury and Psyche and of the two coats of arms in the internal panelled doors confirms the hypothesis that this piece was commissioned in occasion of a prestigious wedding in order to celebrate the union of two important families.

 

Estimate   € 80.000 / 120.000
8

PAIR OF CONSOLE TABLES WITH MIRROR
NAPLES, END-18TH CENTURY

carved, painted and gilded wood, portoro marble top; console table 97x138x62 cm, mirror 242x148 cm

 

Provenance

Taranto, Valva d’Ayala Palace;

Rome, del Balzo di Presenzano Collection

 

Bibliography

A. Gonzàlez-Palacios, “Mobili napoletani del Settecento”, in M. Riccòmini (edited by), Scritti per Eugenio. 27 testi per Eugenio Riccòmini, Bologna 2017, pp. 220-226

 

This pair of semi-circular console tables with a portoro marble top stands on six tapered legs (four front legs and two back legs), entirely white-lacquered and fluted in the centre. An imbricate motif is present in the inferior part, while the capitals with acanthus leaves support the large band under the top. The light blue band is decorated with polychromed festoons and clusters with ribbons, interspersed with acanthus leaves descending from the top.

The large mirrors, white lacquered on a light blue background, are framed on both sides by two semi-columns, fluted like the console table's legs and decorated with acanthus leaves on the base, at the centre and at the top.

The same band motif of the console tables is reproduced both on the base of the top, in a simpler way, and on the higher part of the mirrors, in a more richly decoration with an egg-and-dart denticulate moulding double frame.

The most scenographic and architecturally spectacular part of the composition is represented by the circular small temple in perspective, raising upon six small fluted columns sustained by bases and topped by capitals which hold an imbricated cupola, centred by tripods with harpies to hold a steaming vase. At the sides, two griffins facing out are joined to the small temple by a festoon with flowers. This lively polychrome composition accentuates the great craftsmanship of the engraver.

 

According to Alvar Gonzàlez-Palacios, who has recently published the description of these two magnificent pieces of furniture (Mobili napoletani del Settecento, Bologna 2017, pp. 220-226), “these console tables are the result of the extraordinary quality reached by the furniture manufacturing in Naples  at the end of the 18th century. They resemble the pieces of furnishing made for the royal Bourbon family in that period and, in particular, the furniture destined to the residence of Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina of Villa Favorita in Resina and the numerous furnishings donated for the wedding of the hereditary Prince Francis with his cousin, the Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria in 1797".

The lively polychromy, characteristic of the above-mentioned pieces, is a constant element also in the numerous pieces of furniture held today in the Reggia of Caserta like, for example, a pair of polychrome drawers with arabesques and small flowers on a greyish background, or in another group of furniture in Caserta decorated with polychrome reliefs on a light-coloured background.

Alvar González-Palacios also discovered that the royal craftsman Antonio Pittarelli was paid to "gild and paint" some pieces of furniture for the Royal Apartments in Caserta at the end of the eighteenth century. "The technique applied by the artisan", the scholar states, "consisted in: painting with four hands, two with oil paints and two with white spirit [...] depicting flowers and a scene". In 1781, another royal craftsman, the gilder Bartolomeo di Natale was paid to "gild two sofas and two lounge chairs in the first chamber after the Cabinet of the Queen". Carlo Vanvitelli, son of the famous Luigi, also collaborated to the production of all these works. The oval wall mirror standing on a semi-circular table, held today in Caserta, is very similar to our two console tables in both their polychromy and in the type of carving that combines figurative and architectural elements with flowers.

After having analysed these polychrome console tables from the decorative point of view, it is now worth focusing on their rare structure: the tables can be compared, for example, with some overdoors of the Davalos Palace in Naples (see fig. 1), characterized by similar small temples with a central statue, that, according to Chiara Garzya (Interni neoclassici a Napoli, Naples 1978, pp. 47-48) may have been designed by the architect Mario Gioffredo (1718-1785).

Alvar Gonzàlez-Palacios (Il Tempio del Gusto, Milan 1984, p. 265, fig. 206, tav. LXVII) makes other two interesting comparisons: the console table from Villa della Favorita in Palermo and today in the Museum of Capodimonte has a semi-circular top and six legs distributed in pairs on the front and single legs on the back, and then some stools, surely coming from Naples and today at Villa della Favorita in Palermo, which have similar harpies holding a vase similar to our small temple.

 

Even if only few and fragmentary sources exist about the owners of these two important console tables, it is known that they belonged to Valva d'Ayala Palace in Taranto and that they are today part of the prestigious collection of del Balzo di Presenzano in Rome, a noble family documented since the 10th century (see fig. 2), coming from Les Baux de Provence in Provence and  descending from the cadet branch of the Lords of Baux. The family of del Balzo gained so much power in the Kingdom of Naples to be mentioned among the seven most important families of the reign. Progenitor of the family was Pontius I, Viscount of Arles, whose descendants were the Viscounts of Marseilles and Pontius III juvenis, Lord of Les Baux (981).

From them descended the del Balzo branch, that arrived in Italy in 1265 after the Count of Provence, Charles I of Anjou. From them several branches had developed and today the only direct descendants from Bianchino del Balzo, cadet son of Francis I, Duke of Andria and of Sveva Orsini, are the Presenzano and Caprigliano families. Francis I was the father of Vincenzo, who continued the line of the Barons of Santa Croce (today extinct), and of Francis, progenitor of the Barons and then of the Dukes of Schiavi (today extinct). From them come the Dukes of Presenzano (Privilege conferred by the Emperor Charles VI of Habsburg on January 27th, 1734 in favour of Giacinto del Balzo) and the Dukes of Caprigliano (first privilege conferred by King Charles II of Habsburg on July 8th, 1696 in favour of Vincenzo I of the Balzo and second privilege conferred by the King Charles III of Bourbon on  November 30th, 1749 in favour of Antonio I Lorenzo del Balzo).
Estimate   € 120.000 / 180.000
9

Filippo Carlini

(active during the last half of the 18th century)

VATICAN MOSAIC STUDIO, ROME, 1777-1778, MARY MAGDALENE

micro mosaic on metal support, 74x59.5 cm

 

Paolo Spagna

(1736-1788)

FRAME, AROUND 1780

in gilded bronze, 111.5x76x10cm 

 

A gift of the Pope Pius VI to the Archdukes of Milan

During the entire Eighteenth century, the papal court frequently made gifts, such as tapestries embroidered by the Papal Factory of Saint Michael1 and mosaic paintings executed by several artisans of the famous Vatican Mosaic Studio2, to sovereigns and illustrious guests during their official visits to Rome. In some cases, however, some of these artworks were commissioned to other mosaicists who worked in their own workshops. Therefore, these artworks achieved the highest technical perfection, rarely reached in the history of the mosaic, also thanks to the scientific knowledge of the infinite colour gradation acquired under the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XIII. The mosaics were often enclosed in richly decorated gilded metal (bronze, copper or brass) frames, skilfully created by goldsmiths working for the court. It is especially under the Pontificate of Pope Pius VI (1775-1799 fig. 1) that goldsmiths, such as the famous Luigi Valadier (who however rarely created similar objects) and in particular Paolo Spagna (1736-1788) gained more and more popularity.

Native of Rome, Paolo Spagna trained an entire generation of silversmiths and foundry workers, who were still active throughout the whole of the Nineteenth century. In 1772, he was granted a licence while living and working in his workshop in Via del Pellegrino. He worked as a papal court artist from 1775 until his death3. Some of his frames, to which, as we shall see, belongs the frame here examined, are already well known4. Made of bronze, copper, brass, gold, silver and iron, this frame is composed by a rectangular board with various decorations, carved in fretwork with phytomorphic elements and topped by a "Fame" (or a winged trumpeting Genius) on both sides of Pius VI's coat of arms. Its dimensions are 111.5x76 cm (88x76 cm without cymatium).

From the historical evidence found in the Vatican Secret Archive we learn what follows:

 

The mosaic

In February 1777, Giovanni Battista Ponfreni, Director of the Vatican Mosaic Studio, commissioned to Filippo Carlini (doc. 1) the reproduction in mosaic of the original Mary Magdalene depicted by Guido Reni. For this purpose, a copy of the portrait was painted as a model for Carlini, but it has unfortunately never been found (doc. 4). This painting was taken from Guido Reni's composition which, in that period, belonged to the Colonna Gallery: even if all traces of this original painting were lost, information about its existence is reported in many sources (fig. 2)5.

In December 1777 (doc. 1), Ponfreni reported that the work was proceeding and that one third of the total payment would be granted to Carlini. In March 1778 (doc. 2), the same amount of money was paid to the artist after Ponfreni's confirmation that two thirds of the panel had been completed. By the end of the same year Carlini finished the mosaic: for his work he received the total amount of three hundred and forty scudi. On December, 5 1778, the mosaic panel was transferred to the Floreria in the Vatican until the next opportunity to be offered as a gift (doc. 3).

Pupil of Marco Benefial, Giovanni Battista Ponfreni was born around 1715 in Rome where he died in 1795. Filippo Carlini was active around the second half of the 18th century in the Vatican Mosaic Studio and this frame is his only known artwork up to now6.

 

The frame

On April, 15 1780 (doc. 5), Paolo Spagna demanded the payment of two identical gilded metal frames for other mosaic paintings destined to the Archdukes of Milan: the first one depicting the Virgin of Sorrows and the lightly smaller second one representing Mary Magdalene. 

As reported below, the document attesting the payment describes in detail every single element of our frame, as we can admire it today, together with the cymatium with the two "Fame" of which Spagna stated to have created a "wax copy". This statement is quite important because foundry workers were not often able to make models of their works. The document also specifies that the total amount paid for the frames by the Sacred Palace was 713:72 scudi, excluding the cost of the amount of gold used for the frames.

The mosaic depicting the Virgin of Sorrows was found in the storage of the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna (fig. 3): unfortunately in the occasion of my publication in 2004, it lacked most of its frame. I was told that it had never been found. However, shortly afterwards, it luckily reappeared and was satisfactorily restored. It is identical to the Magdalene framework, albeit slightly larger, as specified in the already mentioned account of Spagna (doc. 5)7.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the workshop of Luigi Valadier and of his son Giuseppe passed on to the family of Spagna. The collection of the drawings, containing many sheets both of Luigi Valadier and of several other artists between the 18th and 19th century and linked to both Valadier's and Spagna's families, got lost under still mysterious circumstances.

The majority of these drawings are now in the Civic Gallery of Faenza while many others have been acquired in the last twenty years by many European and American art collectors through the Artemis Group of London. (It is worth reminding that the Artemis Group ceased its activity in recent times).

In the Valadier-Spagna collection of drawings there are several projects of frames and cymatiums aimed to mosaics for the Pope and similar to the one here analysed. Even if our frame is not shown in this collection, a drawing held in London (fig. 4) reproduces some similar "Fame", although together with a putto and intended for an oval frame.  

An identical copy of the two frames, here examined, was made by Paolo Spagna four years later in 1784 as a gift from Pope Pius VI to the King Gustav III: the purpose was to frame a mosaic of Giovanni Battista Ponfreni depicting the figure of Diana taken from a painting of Guercino. This artwork was identified and can be admired today in the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm8 (fig. 5)..

 

The Archdukes of Milan

The document no. 5 dated 15th April 1780 contains a detailed description of two gilded metal frames for mosaic paintings: "one to be offered to His Royal Highness the Archduke of Milan and the other to His Wife the Archduchess, depicting the Virgin of Sorrows and Mary Magdalene respectively".

Together with the precise description of the decorations of the frames and of the figures, this document also mentions their dimensions: the frame containing Mary Magdalene was four palms high and three palms and five inches wide, corresponding to about 90 cm high and 76.9 cm wide. These measures are almost identical to those of our frame (without the two "Fame"). The dimensions of the Virgin of Sorrows are four palms and three inches high and three palms and six inches wide corresponding instead to those of the picture conserved today in Vienna (95x80 cm without "Fame").

The Archduke of Milan, mentioned in the document, was the son of the Empress Maria Theresa, Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen (1754-1806). In 1771, he married Maria Beatrice d’Este (1750-1829), last direct descendant of the Dukes of Modena. Ferdinand was Governor of the Duchy of Milan until 1796. In 1780, the Archdukes were in Rome where they received from Pope Pius VI the above-mentioned gifts.

Many years later in 1795, the Marquise Margherita Boccapaduli, who was one of the most educated women of her time and who belonged to a noble Roman family, describes the gifts of the Pope during a visit to the Royal Palace of Milan, residence of the Archdukes: "in one of the Archduchess' rooms, used as cultural salon, are hung the tapestries and the mosaics given by the Pope”9.

The two mosaics were certainly sent to Vienna where the so-called Palace of Modena (Modenapalais) was acquired by Beatrice d’Este in 1806. Many years later in 1859, her nephew, Francis V, Duke of Modena moved to this residence after his exile from his Italian Dukedom11. Francis V died in 1876 without heirs and named as his successor the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914.

The two mosaic paintings of Pope Pius VI were therefore held in the Palace of Modena in Vienna until 1915 and were later transferred to the Kunsthistoriches Museum. In 1924, as a result of an agreement between the Austrian government and the legitimate heirs of the last Emperor Karl I deceased in 1922, the mosaic, here described, depicting Mary Magdalene returned to the Habsburg family. The back of the bronze frame still bears the original red mark with the inventory number E 783911. A similar mark with no. E 8627 can still be seen on the back side of the other frame depicting the Virgin of Sorrows at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

 

 

1 A. De Suobel, Le arazzerie romane dal XVII al XIX secolo, Rome, 1989

2 L. Hautecoeur, “I mosaicisti sampietrini del ‘700" in L’arte, XIII, 1910, pp. 450 et seq.; A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Mosaici e pietre dure, Milan, 1981, I, pp. 4-35.

3 C.G. Bulgari, Argentieri, gemmari e orafi d’Italia. Roma, vol. ll, Rome, 1959, pp. 426-427. The son of Paolo, Giuseppe Spagna (1765-1839) carried on with his father's work after his premature death and received a licence in 1791: he continued to work for the papal court that later commissioned to the artist the creation of similar frames.

4 On this topic, see: A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Arredi e ornamenti alla corte di Roma, Milan, 2004, pp. 226-241

5 That painting is mentioned in a Colonna inventory of 1783 and was made by Domenico Cunego in 1776. Today this composition is known thanks to a copper autograph copy held in Versailles: S. Pepper, Guido Reni, Oxford, 1984, cat. 126, p. 262, fig.152. An exact copy of the here-mentioned painting made by Reni (size 66x58 cm) was recently shown at a Finarte auction held in Rome on 31st May 2006, lot. 269.

6 M.G. Branchetti, Mosaici minuti romani del 700 e dell’800, Vatican City, 1986, p. 174

7 A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Arredi e ornamenti cit., note 4. fig. 10 at p. 233. The dimensions of the frame of the painting in Vienna are 95x80 cm (with the two "Fame" is 123 cm high).

8 A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Arredi e ornamenti cit., note 4, p. 235, fig. 12

9 A. Giulini, “Milano e i suoi dintorni nel diario di una dama romana del Settecento” in Archivio Storico Lombardo, XLIV, fasc. 2, 1917, p. 360. There are no records of the tapestries.

10 F. Czeike, Historisches Lexikon Wien, Vienna, 1995, vol. 4, p. 281.

11 In the formerly typewritten inventory of the Kunsthistorisches Museum the following description is recorded, although still crossed: "1924 Mosaic image, portrait of Saint Magdalene ... Looking up, with her arms crossed over her chest. A bronze frame is surmounted by the Pope's coat of arms (Pius VI, Braschi 1775-1795) and two trumpeting angels. The composition is 113 cm high and 76 cm wide, Italian, second half of the 18th century. Origin: 1915 from the Palace of Modena. Identified with no. 7629 - handed over to Dr. Stritzl". Stritzl was the lawyer of the Imperial family. 

 

Estimate   € 120.000 / 180.000
10

A RARE STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH, ROLEX, REF. 6263, CASE BACKREF. 6239, CASE NO. 2'085'533, COSMOGRAPHDAYTONA 'PAUL NEWMAN PANDA DIAL', CIRCA 1969
brushed and polished Oyster case with screw-down crowns, pushers and back, black bezelcalibrated for 200 units per hour. Bi-colour black and white dial, applied square and pointshapedluminous indexes, luminous baton hands, three subsidiary engine-turned dials at 3,6 and 9 for 30 minutes and 12 hours registers and constant seconds, outer minute and 1/5second divisions. Caliber 727 manual winding movement. Stainless steel Oyster bracelet, ref.7835, endlinks stamped 271, deployant clasp. Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed.
Diam. 37,5 mm


The success of Daytona’s ‘Paul Newman’ version is a quite peculiar phenomenon since it boomed nearly 20 years after its creation.


It was projected as an ‘exotic’ dial version for the Cosmograph Daytona, the first chronograph model produced by Rolex to celebrate the Maison’s role of official timekeeper of Daytona and Le Mans racing circuits. This new model, however, was not welcomed with much enthusiasm and the public continued to prefer the classical dial for many years.


As a result, Rolex produced a limited number of exotic dials that were mounted in the years between 1964 and 1972 both on push-down and on the later screw-down buttons watches.


The style of this dial was undoubtedly eccentric compared to the ones the public was used to.
The dial looked definitely too innovative for the time’s sober taste: numbers and indexes reminds to the Déco style, the center part of the dial, the registers and outer tracking are not on the same level thus conveying three-dimensionality and emphasizing the chromatic contrast between withe and black.


In the 1980s this dial begins to attract the collectors attention thanks to its rareness and unusual look but   mostly because famous people from the international jet set started to look for this watch that soon became a must have.  


Italians were among the most enthusiastic collectors since advertising posters for Italy’s market of the film Indianapolis portrayed the actor Paul Newman while wearing a Daytona ref. 6239 with exotic dial: this is where the ‘Paul Newman’ nickname came from.


From the 1980s on, the Paul Newman Daytona started to increase its value on the international market, thus becoming the most craved collection watch allover the world. Nowadays, the screw-down buttons models reach the highest quotations and the most appealing between black dial with off-white registers and off-white dial with black registers versions is the second one, the so called ‘Panda’ version.


The watch we present here, is one of the first pieces of Rolex’s Paul Newman Daytona reference 6263 in the ‘Panda’ version. The impressively excellent state of preservation of the watch and the dial combined with a slight natural darkening of the parts featuring luminous material  which emphasize the contrast between the off-white dial and the black ring thus giving it a fascinating look.




Estimate   € 150.000 / 250.000
Price realized  Registration
11

NECKLACE, MID-19TH CENTURY
IN DIAMONDS, SILVER AND WHITE GOLD


the strand composed of thirty-seven old cushion shaped diamonds graduated from ct 8.50 to ct0.45, total weight ct 64.00 approximately, colour J/O, clarity VS2/I2, each mounted on an eightprongs cluster in silver; on the back a chain of silver links and a gold clasp mounting a diamondwere added afterwards as an extension, the seven center clusters are equipped with pendanthooks, length cm 43

Provenance
Royal Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra, Duchess of Fife;
Dukes of Fife, heirs of the Royal Princess;
Private collection

We are very proud to present in this catalogue a magnificent necklace of the mid-19th century: our research led to a photographic documentation dating back to about 1860 when a very similar specimen, probably the very same, was captured on the Royal Princess of Denmark, Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte (1844-1925), wife of the future King of England Edward VII (1841-1910).


This jewel reached the international market in the early 1970s when it was auctioned at Sotheby's in London with other pieces belonging to the Dukes of Fife, related to the House of Windsor through the marriage of Alexander William George Duff, First Duke of Fife (1849-1912) and the Royal Princess of England, Louise Victoria Alexandra of Wales (1867-1931), daughter of the abovementioned royal couple.


In occasion of her marriage celebrated in 1889, the Duchess of Fife received from the royal guests what was described as a "cascade of jewels", that was exhibited in the large dining room of the family residence at Marlborough House. The rich ornaments were meticulously described in the main newspapers of the time. Therefore, this necklace was probably one of Louise’s parents wedding gifts.


In an official image, dated about 1900, the Royal Princess stands next to her husband clearly wearing this necklace.
The same collier can also be recognized in a picture, dated 1907, in which Louise is portrayed next to her mother, His Royal Highness Alexandra, at the time Queen of England, and her sister the Princess Victoria Alexandra Olga of Wales (1868-1935) while wearing this necklace and another jewel belonging to the Windsor family: the famous 'Fringe tiara'.


Unfortunately, many of Louise's royal jewels got lost in the Mediterranean sea when the vessel taking the Dukes of Fife to Egypt shipwrecked near the coasts of Morocco in 1911. The necklace, however, survived the accident as evidenced by numerous pictures of Louise's daughter, Alexandra Victoria Alberta Duff, Duchess of Fife (1891-1959), photographed with the family's precious jewel.


One of women's most beloved ornament, the collier reached its highest diffusion among the European ladies in the nineteenth century when diamonds were particularly sought after in the United Kingdom as a symbol of social status both for aristocracy and upper-middle class. Besides colliers composed of one or more diamond rows, multi-strand pearls and semi-precious stones necklaces became very popular in the English society.

Alexandra was considered an icon of style by her circle, therefore her unusual habit of wearing very short necklaces, perhaps to hide a scar on her neck, started the still ongoing trend of the so called ‘collier de chien’. 


This precious necklace well represents the evolution of this type of jewel throughout the nineteenth century. If compared with the previous century style, closed mountings give way to opened clusters that let the light pass through the stones thus maximizing their brilliance; the traditional cushion shaped cut becomes rounder, getting close to what will be the modern round brilliant cut.
The seven center clusters highlight the close attention paid to details: each one is equipped with hidden hooks to hang additional pendants meant to give the necklace a richer look.

Estimate   € 220.000 / 300.000
Price realized  Registration
12

Luca Giordano
(Napoli, 1634 – 1705)
APOLLO AND MARSYAS
oil on canvas, cm 125x180
inscribed lower left with an inventory number (366 or 566) in yellow paint


This early masterpiece by Luca Giordano comes up for sale nearly forty years after having been auctioned by Christie’s in London in 1988. Ever since, it has been kept in an Italian private collection. Its previous history is still unknown, notwithstanding records of paintings of this subject attributed to Luca Giordano which were sold in London and in Paris from mid-eighteenth century until 1837 (see The Getty Provenance Index). Originally, it was certainly part of a large and important collection, as shown by the three-figure inventory number at the lower left corner, as well as by the sheer quality of the work itself.

When it first appeared on the art market, Nicola Spinosa pointed out a very close relationship between our painting and the celebrated Apollo flaying Marsyas by Jusepe de Ribera, a fully signed work of the Spanish artist, dated 1637, now in the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples, from the d’Avalos collection (fig. 2): a painting where the poignant beauty of the Sun god associates with the sheer cruelty of his deed in a dramatic contrast typical of the Baroque age which Sebastian Schütze pointed out, in reference to our version of the subject.

The painting by Jusepe de Ribera was a source of inspiration for Luca Giordano through the 1650s. His first response to Ribera’s masterpiece was the large-sized Apollo and Marsyas in full figures, also in Capodimonte, from the collection of Principe di Fondi; another version, possibly from the 17th century Neapolitan collection of Ferdinand van den Eynden, is currently in an Italian private collection (fig. 5; see Luca Giordano 1634-1705. Catalogue of the exhibition, Naples 2001, nn. 44 and 45).

Several details in both paintings come from Ribera, such as the crying satyrs in the background, assisting to Marsyas being tortured in punishment for defying Apollo’s musical excellence; the Sun god is also close to Ribera’s model in his golden hair and his pink, flying garment, but Giordano painted him in an attitude which is both more realistic and full of brutality.

In the foreground, the screaming Marsyas closely relates to the corresponding figure by Ribera and, generally, refers to a series of tormented mythological characters which the Spanish artist painted in the 1630s, such as Titius (Madrid, Prado) of 1632, and Prometheus, formerly in the Barbara Piasecka Johnson collection, with Sotheby’s in London in July 2009 (fig. 4).

Smaller in size but equally imposing, our painting depicts the moment just preceding the chastisement: crowned by a laurel wreath stating his divine nature, Apollo affects   a pensive mood, as if marking the fairness of the impending punishment, which is not due to a god taking offence but, on the contrary, is fully legitimate. He holds a knife and prepares to flay his opponent, while gazing at him in a deadly silence, more disquieting than the horrible deed he is about to perform. Nothing has actually happened yet but the satyr, lying upon a stone reminiscent of a sacrifice altar, is already screaming. Lower right we can see the syrinx with which he challenged the god, whose musical instrument is held by a winged putto in the opposite corner.

Seen close-up, Luca Giordano figures look more imposing in this painting than in his previous versions of the subject, and convey a stronger, almost unbearable sense of reality. This scene might be considered a pagan version of the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, an equally cruel and disquieting subject, as seen in the riberesque painting by Luca Giordano with Christie’s, London, in July 2014 (fig. 3).

This third and last version of the story of Apollo and Marsyas has been generally dated at the end of the 1650s, and considered to be the conclusion of a new riberesque phase of Luca Giordano. In a few more years, in 1665, the Neapolitan artist would move to Venice, where his “dark” (riberesque) style would prove influent for many local artists (subsequently called “tenebristi”); among them, notably, Johann Karl Loth.

Biographical note

Luca Giordano was born in Naples in 1634. He probably trained with his father, also a painter, whose life and work are currently unknown. Among his youthful inspirational sources we should remind Northern Cinquecento prints, providing subjects he would rework with surprising results, and Jusepe de Ribera early naturalism. Giordano’s series of ancient philosophers come in fact from works of the Spanish artist, who was active in Naples until his death in 1652, while Ribera’s lighter and colourful style from the late 1630s was seminal for many paintings, among which three different versions of the story of Apollo and Marsyas painted by Luca Giordano during the 1650s, and for the later Socrates and Alcibiades (with Walpole Gallery, London). Travels to Rome and Venice acquainted Luca Giordano with works by Pietro da Cortona and Cinquecento Venetian painters, which prompted his conversion to the Baroque style, starting in the 1660s. During a prolonged stay in Florence in 1682, he painted in fresco the Corsini chapel in the Carmine, and started work on the bozzetti for the library and the gallery in palazzo Medici Riccardi, a masterpiece of his mature style. In 1692 he moved to Madrid, at the request of King Charles II, and for the next ten years he worked for the royal palaces and churches, painting in fresco in the monastery of Escorial, in the sacristy of the Toledo cathedral, in the Buen Retiro palace, as well as providing paintings for the royal collection and for the Spanish nobility. He was back in Naples in 1702, and worked until his death in 1705 in various churches and convents, notably in the Cappella del Tesoro (Treasury Chapel) in the Certosa di San Martino, actually his last masterpiece.

 

Estimate upon request / 估价待询
Price realized  Registration
13

Ruggero Panerai

(Florence 1862 - Paris 1923)

RETURN FROM THE RACES AT THE CASCINE

oil on canvas, cm 142x202

signed and dated "1885" lower left

 

Provenance

Private collection

 

Exhibitions

Fattori e il Naturalismo in Toscana, Villa Bardini, Florence, 19 March - 22 June 2008, n. 34 

 

Literature

Fattori e il Naturalismo in Toscana, exh. cat. (Villa Bardini, Florence, 19 March - 22 June 2008) ed. by F. Dini, Firenze 2008, pp. 126-129 n. 34

 

 

After putting himself to the test with other city views, Panerai painted this beautiful Return from the Races at the Cascine in 1885. It is a new, decidedly impressionist ‘snap-shot’ of the park, where the leading role is played by the figures, which appear up-to-date with French fashion; it is a picture that appears quite distant from the quiet image of a traditional outing of the Florentine middle class, so clearly expressed twenty years earlier from the positivist perspective of the Macchiaiolo style in the painting Una ricreazione al parco delle Cascine (Recreation in the Cascine park) by Michele Tedesco.

 

«He was a “regular racegoer of horse, running and bicycle races” and an eccentric “angry cyclist”, all sports that used to take place in the large Cascine park not far from the centre of the city, seat of the racecourse but also of the “Club velocipedistico”: in a late 19th century Florence where you could still breathe the air of the capital and that had been suddenly updated on the modern worldly ‘crazes’ thanks to its recent urban revolution, Panerai was therefore a fashionable young man, who seemed to have in mind the glorious Paris described in 1875 by Fattori, all fun and “Caffè Schantàs – floodlit with lamps” (see letter of the 3rd May 1875 to his brothers-in-law, in Lettere dei macchiaioli, edited by L. Vitali, Torino 1953, pp. 37-38), that hadn’t however at the time much influenced the style of the painter from Livorno. Instead for the young pupil, Paris is also the city of modern art, the one described by Diego Martelli to his Florentine companions; the city of De Nittis, Zandomeneghi and Boldini. In his depiction of the Cascine, therefore, he reverses the horizontal setting of Tedesco’s painting in the foreground, revealing his adherence to a new, ‘photographic’ vision, already tested by Signorini in his city street views (Leith, 1881, to mention a work of international taste) and by Fattori himself (for example in the telescopic view of Viale Principe Amedeo, 1880-81); the theme of the painting is however intensified by its size and by its audacious structure, that emphasizes the feeling of modern instability and appears more dynamic due to the swift way of painting and to the strongly synthetic graphic-like details. Panerai’s references were probably De Nittis in his Parisian painting La Signora col cane or Ritorno dalle corse (Lady with dog or Return from the races), 1878; or also Le défilé - Chevaux de course devant les tribunes and Aux courses en province, 1866-1869, by Degas, which had so struck Luigi Gioli in his Via del Passeggio a Livorno (Via del Passeggio in Livorno) in that same 1885.

We know that Gioli had already been to Paris with his brother and Fattori first in ’75 and then in ’78, and it was maybe thanks to him that Panerai, as we have no news of his spending any time in Paris in those years, may have had first-hand knowledge of prints or reproductions of the French works he accurately quoted in his painting (the man with a top hat with his hands behind his back on the right, or the landau in the crowd); other sources might have been Martelli or the Macchiaiolo representative in the French capital, Zandomeneghi, whose pretty, à la mode young ladies (Violettes d’hiver, 1879) were probably recalled in the figure in the foreground wearing a dark, high-necked coat and a bonnet with a bow, or in the very similar Portrait of a lady with a black bonnet, examples of the frivolous and courteous people who populated the city park in every season, but especially “in the mild winter afternoons, when the sun shines on Viale della Regina, showers golden light on the emerald foliage of the box hedges and makes love glimmer in the pretty eyes of the Florentine women”».

R. Campana in Fattori e il Naturalismo in Toscana, Firenze 2008, pp. 126-128

 

The Cascine with its 118 hectares is the largest public park in Florence. Its history has always been linked to that of the city: from the Medici to the Lorraine, from the Regno d’Italia (Kingdom of Italy) to the present day. The Cascine was part of the estate purchased by Alessandro and Cosimo I Medici to be used as a game reserve and for cattle breeding. The word “cascina” means in fact “beechwood ring where the clotted milk was pressed to make cheese”. After the extinction of the Medici family in 1737 and the passage of the Grand Duchy to the Lorraine, the role of the Cascine as a place of recreation, of walks and celebrations was accentuated. In 1786 Giuseppe Manetti started the works to transform the Cascine into a large park, landscaped so as to create symbolic and allusive itineraries. While up to the 17th century it had only been open to the public on certain occasions, in the short Napoleonic period, under Elisa Baciocchi, the Cascine became real public gardens.

In 1865 the Florentine administration, that had recently come into possession of the Cascine, dedicated great interest to these gardens: despite the transformations brought about between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, most of the area still maintained the traits of a large farm, and therefore needed an urgent adaptation to its new function of public city park. Though the works had at first been assigned to the French landscape architect George Aumont, the redevelopment of the pedestrian walkways and of the carriage roads near the Arno was carried out by Giuseppe Poggi.

 

 

 

 

Estimate   € 150.000 / 200.000
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