Lot Essay
The present picture belonged to Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga (1690-1756), who was one of the greatest art collectors and patrons of his day, acquiring over eight hundred paintings which were housed in a casino designed by Panini adjoining his villa. Many of his most prized possessions, including what appears to be the present painting, are shown in the well-known imaginary view of his gallery commissioned from Panini in 1749 and now in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford (Fig. 1; F. Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini e i fasti della Romana del '700, 1986, p. 430, no. 400, illustrated, and p. 159, pls. 166-7; and G. Briganti, L. Trezzani, L. Laureati, I Bamboccianti: Pittori della vita quotidiana a Roma nel Seicento, 1983, p. 152, pl. 514: a detail of the left hand side of the Wadsworth Panini). Valenti Gonzaga, born in Mantua, went at an early age to Rome, where he had a brilliant career, becoming a Cardinal in 1738 and two years later Secretary of State under Pope Benedict XIV.
A pre-1763 inventory of Valenti Gonzaga's collection published by Carlo Pietrangeli in Villa Paolina, 1961 refers to no. 410 as 'Quadro di Palmi 2., once 7. per altezza, e palmi 2. per larghezza, rappresentate Ritratto di un Uomo colla Pelliccia, e Collaro, in tela, maniera Veneziana'.
A pre-1763 inventory of Valenti Gonzaga's collection published by Carlo Pietrangeli in Villa Paolina, 1961 refers to no. 410 as 'Quadro di Palmi 2., once 7. per altezza, e palmi 2. per larghezza, rappresentate Ritratto di un Uomo colla Pelliccia, e Collaro, in tela, maniera Veneziana'.