THE PROPERTY OF A NOBLEMAN
Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian (c.1490-1576) and Workshop
Details
Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian (c.1490-1576) and Workshop
Venus and Adonis
63 x 77 3/8in. (160 x 196.5cm.)
In a carved and gilded frame with the stamp 'R. Cribb, Carver and Gilder, 288 High Holborn'
Venus and Adonis
63 x 77 3/8in. (160 x 196.5cm.)
In a carved and gilded frame with the stamp 'R. Cribb, Carver and Gilder, 288 High Holborn'
Provenance
Queen Christina of Sweden, Palazzo Riario, Rome (Inventory of 1662, folio 45 'Adone in atto di partir alla caccia con tre cani alla mano trattenuto da Venere che l'abraccia ignuda e seduta in schiena sopra una veste di velluto. Un bellissimo paese con un amore adormentato sotto gli alberi, figure grandi al naturale, con cornice liscia indorata, alta palmi otto e mezzo e larga palmi nove'; same description in the inventory drawn up on Queen Christina's death in 1689, but with the size given as 6½ x 8 palmi, see Campori and Granberg below)
Cardinal Azzolini, her residuary legatee
His nephew, Marchese Azzolini
Principe Livio Odescalchi (+ 1713; Nota dei quadri della Regina di Svezia of c.1690 in the Odescalchi archives, no.55; Odescalchi Inventory, 1692, folio 466, no.17 or no.151; Odescalchi Inventory, 1713, folio 84v 'originale di Tiziano')
Principe Baldassare Odescalchi-Erba; sold on his death in 1721 (folio 3, no.58, or folio 6v, no.27) with the whole of Queen Christina's collection to
Philippe, Duc d'Orléans (le Régent)
Louis, Duc d'Orléans
Philippe, Duc d'Orléans (Philippe Egalité)
Sold by him to M. Walkuers, a banker from Brussels, 1792
Sold by him to M. Laborde de Méréville, who brought this and the other Orléans Italian pictures to England
Sold by him to Jeremiah Harman, who made all the Orléans Italian pictures over to a syndicate consisting of the Duke of Bridgewater and Lords Carlisle and Gower (late Marquis of Stafford); exhibited for sale by private contract at the Lyceum, The Strand, London, for six months from 26 Dec. 1798, no.224, and purchased for #300 by Mr. FitzHugh
Sold by him in 1844 to the 2nd Earl of Normanton
Cardinal Azzolini, her residuary legatee
His nephew, Marchese Azzolini
Principe Livio Odescalchi (+ 1713; Nota dei quadri della Regina di Svezia of c.1690 in the Odescalchi archives, no.55; Odescalchi Inventory, 1692, folio 466, no.17 or no.151; Odescalchi Inventory, 1713, folio 84v 'originale di Tiziano')
Principe Baldassare Odescalchi-Erba; sold on his death in 1721 (folio 3, no.58, or folio 6v, no.27) with the whole of Queen Christina's collection to
Philippe, Duc d'Orléans (le Régent)
Louis, Duc d'Orléans
Philippe, Duc d'Orléans (Philippe Egalité)
Sold by him to M. Walkuers, a banker from Brussels, 1792
Sold by him to M. Laborde de Méréville, who brought this and the other Orléans Italian pictures to England
Sold by him to Jeremiah Harman, who made all the Orléans Italian pictures over to a syndicate consisting of the Duke of Bridgewater and Lords Carlisle and Gower (late Marquis of Stafford); exhibited for sale by private contract at the Lyceum, The Strand, London, for six months from 26 Dec. 1798, no.224, and purchased for #300 by Mr. FitzHugh
Sold by him in 1844 to the 2nd Earl of Normanton
Literature
J. Couché, La Galerie du Palais-Royal, gravée d'après les tableaux des différentes écoles qui la composent, I, 1786, pl.XV W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting, with a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England since the French Revolution, 1824, I, p.114, no.15
G. F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, 1854, II, p.497, no.14
G. F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, 1857, p.366 'The same composition as the picture in the National Gallery. The colour clearer and the execution more careful. The landscape very beautiful'
G. Campori, Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventarii inediti, 1870, p.340
O. Granberg, La galerie de tableaux de la Reine Christine de Suède, 1897, no.17 or 30
M. Roldit, The Collection of Pictures of the Earl of Normanton at
Somerley, Hampshire, III, Works by Painters of the Foreign Schools, The Burlington Magazine, IV, no.10, Jan. 1904, p.16, illustrated p.17
C. Stryienski, La Galerie du Régent Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, 1913, pp.23, 46 and 151, no.40
C. Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth-Century Venetian School, 1959, p.100
E. K. Waterhouse, Queen Christina's Italian Pictures in England, Documents and Studies, 1966, p.374
H. E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, III, The Mythological and Historical Paintings, 1975, pp.60, 191 and 192 and pl.190
F. Russell, The Hanging and Display of Pictures, 1700-1850, in The Fashioning and Functioning of the British Country House, ed. G. Jackson-Stops, 1988, p.152 'The top line was reserved for larger "gallery" pictures, and the position there of the autograph version of Titian's 'Venus and Adonis' must explain why this work, admittedly a relatively inexpensive purchase, has been consistently underrated by most recent critics'
G. F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, 1854, II, p.497, no.14
G. F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, 1857, p.366 'The same composition as the picture in the National Gallery. The colour clearer and the execution more careful. The landscape very beautiful'
G. Campori, Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventarii inediti, 1870, p.340
O. Granberg, La galerie de tableaux de la Reine Christine de Suède, 1897, no.17 or 30
M. Roldit, The Collection of Pictures of the Earl of Normanton at
Somerley, Hampshire, III, Works by Painters of the Foreign Schools, The Burlington Magazine, IV, no.10, Jan. 1904, p.16, illustrated p.17
C. Stryienski, La Galerie du Régent Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, 1913, pp.23, 46 and 151, no.40
C. Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth-Century Venetian School, 1959, p.100
E. K. Waterhouse, Queen Christina's Italian Pictures in England, Documents and Studies, 1966, p.374
H. E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, III, The Mythological and Historical Paintings, 1975, pp.60, 191 and 192 and pl.190
F. Russell, The Hanging and Display of Pictures, 1700-1850, in The Fashioning and Functioning of the British Country House, ed. G. Jackson-Stops, 1988, p.152 'The top line was reserved for larger "gallery" pictures, and the position there of the autograph version of Titian's 'Venus and Adonis' must explain why this work, admittedly a relatively inexpensive purchase, has been consistently underrated by most recent critics'
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, Works by the Old Masters, Jan.-March 1882, no.146
Engraved
Jean-Louis Delignon for Couché, op. cit. (in reverse, see Wethey, op. cit., pl.189)