An Allegory of the Glory of a Prince accompanied by Immortality

Details

Charles-Joseph Natoire (Nîmes 1700-1777 Castel Gandolfo)
An Allegory of the Glory of a Prince accompanied by Immortality
oil on canvas
44 x 45¾ in. (111.8 x 116.2 cm.)

Provenance

Possibly commissioned by Christian VI of Denmark for the audience chamber of the Royal castle at Christiansborg;
Possibly Camille Doublot; sale, Paris, 13 May 1907, lot 45 with pendant, where incorrectly identified as Allegory of Faithfulness from the collection of J. de Jullienne.
Adrian Ward-Jackson, London, by 1979.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 8 July 1992, lot 66, as Natoire and Studio.
Galerie Koller, Zurich, 24 March 1995, lot 67.

Literature

M. Krohn, Frankrigs og Danmarks kunsteriske Forbindelse i det 18. Aarhundrede, 1992, vol. I, p. 28 and vol. II, p. 81.
F. Boyer, Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre de Charles Natoire, Archives de l'Art Français, 1949, vol. XXI, p. 44, no. 280.
Art as Decoration, Heim Gallery, London, 17 June-28 August, 1981.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This picture may have formed part of a series of four overdoors, commissioned from Natoire in 1741 for the audience chamber of the castle of Christianborg, Denmark; the others depicting La Force et la Prudence, L'Amitié et la Fidelité, and La Paix et l'Abondance (see Boyer, op. cit., nos. 280-83, and catalogue of the exhibition Art and Decoration, Heim Gallery London, 1981, no. 10). Although these were thought to have been destroyed by the fire that damaged the castle in 1794, it is possible that either some of the pictures survived the fire or had been removed as the result of the redecoration of the castle.

We are grateful to J. Patrice Marandel for confirming the attribution. He will include this picture in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the work of Natoire.

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