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Details
PAOLO CALIARI, CALLED PAOLO VERONESE (VERONA 1528-1588 VENICE)
Cupid holding the reins of Mars' charger - a fragment
oil on canvas, unframed
31 x 20 7/8 in. (78.7 x 53.2 cm.)
Provenance
As part of the complete picture:
Painted for the Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612), and by inheritance in Prague, listed in the inventory of 1635, inv. no. 44, until the Sack of 1648, when taken by the Swedes, inventory of 1648, inv. no. 248 or 450.
Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689), Palazzo Riario, Rome, listed in the inventories of 1652, inv. no. 79, and 1662, inv. no. 1, in her posthumous inventory of 1689, inv. no. 9, by whom bequeathed with her collection to the following,
Cardinal Decio Azzolino (1623-1689), sold with his collection to the following,
Livio Odescalchi, Duca di Bracciano (1652-1713), listed in the posthumous inventories 1713, inv. no. 173 and 1721, inv. no. 12, and acquired, with 258 other pictures, from his heirs in 1721 by the following,
Philippe, duc d'Orléans, régent de France (1674-1723), and by descent at the Palais Bourbon to the following,
Philippe, duc d'Orléans, called Philippe-Égalité (1747-1793), with whose collection sold in 1791 to the following,
Viscount Joseph Édouard Sébastien de Walckiers (1756-1837), Paris, by whom sold in 1798 to the following,
Michael Bryan (1757-1821), on behalf of a consortium composed of,
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (1736-1803), George Granville, Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower, subsequently 1st Duke of Sutherland (1758-1833) and Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (1748-1825), by whom exhibited with other pictures from the Orléans Collection at Bryan's Pall Mall Gallery and the Lyceum, The Strand, 1798, no. 146, at a valuation of £200, and subsequently sold for £50 (see Waagen, op. cit.).
(Probably) Col. Matthew Smith (c. 1739-1812), Governor of the Tower of London; Christie's, London, 18 February 1804, lot 70, 'P. Veronese, Mars and Venus a truly capital Picture of the Master: from the Orleans Collection' (unsold at 91/2 gns.).
(Probably) Anonymous sale; Peter Coxe, London, 26 March 1805, lot 83, 'Paul Veronese, A grand Historical Picture from the Orleans Collection; the Portrait of the Emperor Charles the Fifth in the Character of Mars, unarming by Venus, attended by Cupids: a noble subject, grandly treated' (12 gns.).
This picture:
with Drey, London, 1951, when recognised by Federico Zeri.
Giovanni Magnavacca, London, by 1966, and by descent to the following,
Anonymous sale [The Property of the Magnavacca Family]; Christie's, London, 11 July 2001, lot 91, where acquired.
Literature
C. Ridolfi, Delle Maraviglie dell'Arte, Venice, 1648, I, p. 320.
W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting, etc., London, 1824, I, p. 135.
G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, London, 1854, II, p. 498.
F. Zeri, 'Paolo Veronese: "Una reliquia del 'Marte et Venere' di Paolo"', Paragone, no. 117, 1959, pp. 43-6, fig. 28.
G. Briganti, 'Un ultra frammento del "Marte et Venere" di Paolo Veronese dipinto per Rodolfo d'Asburgo', Paragone, no. 125, 1960, p. 32.
R. Marini, L'opera completa del Veronese, Milan, 1968, p. 121, under no. 206.
F. Zeri, assisted by E. Gardner, Italian Paintings, A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Venetian School, New York, 1973, pp. 84-5, under no. 5.
W.R. Rearick, The Art of Paolo Veronese 1528-1588, exhibition catalogue, Washington, 1988, p. 132, under no. 67.
Exhibited
Stockholm, National Museum, Christina Queen of Sweden - a Personality of European Civilisation, 29 June-16 October 1966, no. 1197.
Special Notice
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.