Property from the Hispanic Society Museum, to Benefit Collection Care and The Acquisition Fund

Sale Overview

Property from the Hispanic Society Museum, to benefit Collection Care and the Acquisition Fund, traces the reach of Spanish influence across European painting from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century. Sacred imagery anchors the group: a canvas of Saint Dominic in Prayer from the workshop of El Greco; a Saint Francis in Ecstasy after Francisco de Zurbarán; and Hendrick de Somer’s Saint Jerome Hearing the Trumpet of the Last Judgement, steeped in the Neapolitan naturalism of Jusepe de Ribera.

Court portraiture is represented by a commanding full-length of Isabel de Borbón, Queen of Spain, by an artist in the circle of Peter Paul Rubens — recorded in 1655 in the posthumous inventory of the Marqués de Leganés and later in New York in 1904 —together with a fine bust-length Philip IV after Diego Velázquez.

Goya’s influence is elegantly captured in Agustín Esteve y Marqués’s family portrait of the Marquess and Marchioness of Villafranca with their child, a work that balances neoclassical poise with a new emotional realism shaped by his example.

Auction times

01 Oct 10:00 AM (EDT)

Brought to you by

Oliver Rordorf

Specialist | Old Masters

Jennifer Wright

Head of Department | Old Masters

Jennifer Wright was appointed head of Old Master Paintings, New York in June 2024. She has been at Christie’s for 18 years, ten as specialist and head of the Old Master Drawings department, and from 2016-2024 as a Client Relationship Director in the Client Advisory group of the Chairman’s Office. While in Old Master Drawings Jennifer participated in the 2009 sale of Raphael’s Head of a Muse, which sold for £29,000,000, at the time the world record price for a drawing at auction; and in 2013 oversaw the highest-earning various owners Old Master Drawings sale in Christie’s history. While in Client Advisory she managed and developed a portfolio of top-US clients across all collecting categories, and was the driver of several single-owner-sales that featured Old Masters including Property from the Estate of Eugene V. Thaw (2018); Rooms as Portraits: Michael S. Smith (2018, New York and London); Always in Style: Property from the Collection of Herbert Kasper (2021); and Modern Medici: Masterpieces from a New York Collection (2023 and 2024). Jennifer is an auctioneer, and is also co-head of Christie’s charity auctioneering program.

Jennifer earned her undergraduate degree in Art History at Georgetown University, a Master’s degree in Fine and Decorative Art from Sotheby’s Institute, and a Master of Arts degree from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. She is an emeritus member of the Georgetown College Board of Advisors, as well as the founder and inaugural chairwoman of the Director’s Council for the Georgetown University Art Galleries.