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Lot Essay
Pietro Ottoboni was the great-nephew of Pope Alexander VIII, who appointed him Cardinal of San Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome, in 1689 when he was only twenty-two years old. Although not particularly known for his spirituality, he was one of the most active and brilliant patrons of early-eighteenth-century Rome, who employed George Frederic Handel, Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti as composers, and Filippo Juvarra to construct a theatre in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, which, under his occupancy, regained the splendour of the era of Cardinal Francesco Barberini.
It is likely that Cardinal Ottoboni became Francesco Trevisani's patron after the death of Cardinal Flavio Chigi in 1693. Certainly by 1698 Trevisani lived in the Palazzo della Cancelleria where he also had a studio, and by this date it is known that Ottoboni owned at least two of Trevisani's pictures (a Dead Christ with Angels at Stanford, CA, U.A.G & Museum and the Three Marys, private collection, on loan to Stanford). Perhaps the best-known portrait by Trevisani of Ottoboni is the signed and inscribed full-length portrait of the Cardinal in The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Durham. That picture, which shows the Cardinal at a slightly younger age, is dated to circa 1700-5. Another bust-length portrait showing an older Ottoboni was sold in these Rooms, 6 July 1978, lot 60 (£800). Rather intriguingly, the musician Corelli is known to have owned an untraced portrait of his Patron Ottoboni by his friend Trevisani.
It is likely that Cardinal Ottoboni became Francesco Trevisani's patron after the death of Cardinal Flavio Chigi in 1693. Certainly by 1698 Trevisani lived in the Palazzo della Cancelleria where he also had a studio, and by this date it is known that Ottoboni owned at least two of Trevisani's pictures (a Dead Christ with Angels at Stanford, CA, U.A.G & Museum and the Three Marys, private collection, on loan to Stanford). Perhaps the best-known portrait by Trevisani of Ottoboni is the signed and inscribed full-length portrait of the Cardinal in The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Durham. That picture, which shows the Cardinal at a slightly younger age, is dated to circa 1700-5. Another bust-length portrait showing an older Ottoboni was sold in these Rooms, 6 July 1978, lot 60 (£800). Rather intriguingly, the musician Corelli is known to have owned an untraced portrait of his Patron Ottoboni by his friend Trevisani.