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Lot Essay
During the 17th century, many European painters came to Rome to settle, forming communities which often specialised in minor genres. Among them, two French painters, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, contributed to the definition of an idealisd and heroic landscape painting. Towards the end of the 17th century, the first painters of vedute, enriched this classical landscape with Northern-European characteristics that reflected their Dutch and German origins.
Gaspard van Wittel was born in 1653 in Amersfoot, near Utrecht. Arriving in Rome around 1675, he brought with him a predilection for meticulous descriptions of contemporary urban views, in the manner of Jan van der Heyden or Gerrit Berckheyde. He probably also imported from the Netherlands the use of the camera obscura to define perspective. More than any of his predecessors, his careful descriptions of his subjects are painted with strict adherence to their panoramic perspectives, while their point of view, which often coincide with ground-level in the view itself, correspond exactly to that of the spectator. Unlike other Northern landscapists active in Rome in the later seventeenth century, who had attempted to convey a more generic Italianate atmosphere dotted with some of the most famous antique ruins of Rome and its surroundings, Vanvitelli also concentrated on the modern buildings of the city, more often depicting lesser-known views and avoiding the more celebrated monuments (the Colosseum being, however, one notable exception), instead filling his paintings with contemporary, rather than arcadian, staffage. This new vision was to prove enormously influential on subsequent generations of view painters.
Except for a few journeys which he made to Naples or Northern Italy, Vanvitelli was predominantly active in Rome, where he met with immediate success. He worked first of all for Italian patrons, such as the Colonna family, and, later in his career, for travellers on the Grand Tour, from France and England. As described in 1773 by Matthew Bettingham: 'the justness in Occhiali's perspective views, and the fine glow of his Flemish colourings, are excellencies perhaps not to be met in the works of any other painter'. Most commonly called by his Italianised name, Vanvitelli, the artist was also - for obvious reasons - nicknamed 'Gasparo dagli Occhiali' (Gaspare of the spectacles).
In the 1680s Vanvitelli painted several versions of the Ponte Rotto: one is in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica (inv. no. 1991), two others in the Colonna collection (inv. nos. 511 and 548). A preparatory drawing is in the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emmanuele, Rome (no. D.317). In all these versions, the view is taken from the South tip of the Tiberina island. The Ponte Rotto was built under Pope Gregory XIII at the location of the former Aemilius bridge, built in 179 BC; it was partially destroyed in 1598. In the background, the Aventine hill, with the medieval tower and the walls of the Ginnasei, are visible. To the left, the church of Santa Maria Egiziaca, adapted from the ancient Tempio della fortuna Virile, is just noticeable. The campanile of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is visible behind.
The Castel Sant'Angelo and the Apse of San Giovanni dei Fiorentin also exists in several versions, painted in the first part of Vanvitelli's career, datable around 1685: one is in the Palazzo Pitti, Venice (inv. no. 1890), another in the Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome (inv. no. 75). The gardens to the right belong to the Villa dei Fiorentini. The Ponte Sant'Angelo, which links the castle and the left bank, was built at the place of the Pons Aelius, erected by Adrian. It is flanked by ten statues of angels from the studio of Bernini.
Old inscriptions on the stretchers of the pictures record that they were once part of the collections of the 'duc de Vallentinois' [sic], bearing the numbers 71 and 72. The pictures were listed in an inventory, made in 1730, of the collections of Jacques de Matignon, Comte de Torigny and duc de Valentinois (1689-1751), and thus described: 'un tableau de Gasparo représentant une vüe de Rome du costé du Vatican, de 1 pied 6 pouces de haut sur 3 pieds de large et sur toille' and 'Son pendant représentant un autre vüe de Rome du costé du Ponteratto aussi sur toille' (dimensions of approximately 48 x 97 cm., which could imply that the pictures were horizontally reduced). Jacques de Matignon clearly favoured Vanvitelli as four of the artist's pictures are recorded in this inventory.
Jacques de Matignon owned two of the most admired Parisian hôtels particuliers, the Hôtel Matignon and the Hôtel de Valentinois in Passy. In 1731, after the death of his wife, the Princess Louise-Hippolyte Grimaldi, Jacques de Matignon reigned over Monaco under the name of Jacques 1er Grimaldi. He abdicated in favour of his son who became Prince Honoré III, in November 1733. Honoré III was one of the most important collectors of the 18th century, and considerably enriched the princely collections, which could be admired in the family estates in Paris, Normandy and Monaco, and included pictures by Coreggio, Rembrandt, Largillière and Poussin. Unfortunately, these collections were scattered and partially destroyed during the French Revolution.
We are very grateful to Madame Olivia Noat, Adjoint au Conservateur des Achives du Palais Princier in Monaco, for her help in the cataloguing of this lot, and to Dr Laura Laureati for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs only.
Gaspard van Wittel was born in 1653 in Amersfoot, near Utrecht. Arriving in Rome around 1675, he brought with him a predilection for meticulous descriptions of contemporary urban views, in the manner of Jan van der Heyden or Gerrit Berckheyde. He probably also imported from the Netherlands the use of the camera obscura to define perspective. More than any of his predecessors, his careful descriptions of his subjects are painted with strict adherence to their panoramic perspectives, while their point of view, which often coincide with ground-level in the view itself, correspond exactly to that of the spectator. Unlike other Northern landscapists active in Rome in the later seventeenth century, who had attempted to convey a more generic Italianate atmosphere dotted with some of the most famous antique ruins of Rome and its surroundings, Vanvitelli also concentrated on the modern buildings of the city, more often depicting lesser-known views and avoiding the more celebrated monuments (the Colosseum being, however, one notable exception), instead filling his paintings with contemporary, rather than arcadian, staffage. This new vision was to prove enormously influential on subsequent generations of view painters.
Except for a few journeys which he made to Naples or Northern Italy, Vanvitelli was predominantly active in Rome, where he met with immediate success. He worked first of all for Italian patrons, such as the Colonna family, and, later in his career, for travellers on the Grand Tour, from France and England. As described in 1773 by Matthew Bettingham: 'the justness in Occhiali's perspective views, and the fine glow of his Flemish colourings, are excellencies perhaps not to be met in the works of any other painter'. Most commonly called by his Italianised name, Vanvitelli, the artist was also - for obvious reasons - nicknamed 'Gasparo dagli Occhiali' (Gaspare of the spectacles).
In the 1680s Vanvitelli painted several versions of the Ponte Rotto: one is in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica (inv. no. 1991), two others in the Colonna collection (inv. nos. 511 and 548). A preparatory drawing is in the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emmanuele, Rome (no. D.317). In all these versions, the view is taken from the South tip of the Tiberina island. The Ponte Rotto was built under Pope Gregory XIII at the location of the former Aemilius bridge, built in 179 BC; it was partially destroyed in 1598. In the background, the Aventine hill, with the medieval tower and the walls of the Ginnasei, are visible. To the left, the church of Santa Maria Egiziaca, adapted from the ancient Tempio della fortuna Virile, is just noticeable. The campanile of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is visible behind.
The Castel Sant'Angelo and the Apse of San Giovanni dei Fiorentin also exists in several versions, painted in the first part of Vanvitelli's career, datable around 1685: one is in the Palazzo Pitti, Venice (inv. no. 1890), another in the Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome (inv. no. 75). The gardens to the right belong to the Villa dei Fiorentini. The Ponte Sant'Angelo, which links the castle and the left bank, was built at the place of the Pons Aelius, erected by Adrian. It is flanked by ten statues of angels from the studio of Bernini.
Old inscriptions on the stretchers of the pictures record that they were once part of the collections of the 'duc de Vallentinois' [sic], bearing the numbers 71 and 72. The pictures were listed in an inventory, made in 1730, of the collections of Jacques de Matignon, Comte de Torigny and duc de Valentinois (1689-1751), and thus described: 'un tableau de Gasparo représentant une vüe de Rome du costé du Vatican, de 1 pied 6 pouces de haut sur 3 pieds de large et sur toille' and 'Son pendant représentant un autre vüe de Rome du costé du Ponteratto aussi sur toille' (dimensions of approximately 48 x 97 cm., which could imply that the pictures were horizontally reduced). Jacques de Matignon clearly favoured Vanvitelli as four of the artist's pictures are recorded in this inventory.
Jacques de Matignon owned two of the most admired Parisian hôtels particuliers, the Hôtel Matignon and the Hôtel de Valentinois in Passy. In 1731, after the death of his wife, the Princess Louise-Hippolyte Grimaldi, Jacques de Matignon reigned over Monaco under the name of Jacques 1er Grimaldi. He abdicated in favour of his son who became Prince Honoré III, in November 1733. Honoré III was one of the most important collectors of the 18th century, and considerably enriched the princely collections, which could be admired in the family estates in Paris, Normandy and Monaco, and included pictures by Coreggio, Rembrandt, Largillière and Poussin. Unfortunately, these collections were scattered and partially destroyed during the French Revolution.
We are very grateful to Madame Olivia Noat, Adjoint au Conservateur des Achives du Palais Princier in Monaco, for her help in the cataloguing of this lot, and to Dr Laura Laureati for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs only.