Portrait of an architect, half-length, in black robes, holding a pair of dividers

Details

CIRCLE OF GIANLORENZO BERNINI (NAPLES 1598-1680 ROME)
Portrait of an architect, half-length, in black robes, holding a pair of dividers
oil on canvas
30 x 24 ¼ in. (76.2 x 61.6 cm.)

Provenance

Private collection, Surrey, England, 1804-1974.
with Trafalgar Galleries, London, England, by 1974.
The Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection, by 1987, and by descent to the present owners.

Literature

M. Marini, 'Un contributo a Gianlorenzo Bernini 'al dipingere...molto inclinato', Arte Viva. Fima Antiquari, 1992, p. 42, fig. 1, as 'Gian Lorenzo Bernini'.
F. Petrucci, 'L'opera pittorica di Gian Lorenzo Bernini', in M.G. Bernardini (ed.), Bernini a Montecitorio. Ciclo di conferenze nel quarto centenario della nascita di Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Salerno, 2001, p. 91, no. 20, as 'Gian Lorenzo Bernini'.
F. Petrucci, Bernini Pittore dal disegno al 'maraviglioso composto', Rome, 2006, p. 377, no. 13, under 'ipotesi attributive, opere dubbie e di incerta attribuzione'.

Exhibited

London, The Royal Academy, Trafalgar Galleries at the Royal Academy III, 1983, as 'Gian Lorenzo Bernini'.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Lucy Speelman Junior Specialist, Head of Part II

lspeelman@christies.com +44 207 752 3074

Lot Essay

In the 1983 catalogue of the exhibition at the Trafalgar Galleries, Maurizio Marini believed this work to be an autograph self-portrait of Bernini. Francesco Petrucci (op. cit., 2006) rejected this theory due to the marked physiognomic differences with the known likenesses of Bernini. He nonetheless noted its undoubted quality, and positioned it closer to the portraiture of Jacques Courtois, il Borgognone (1621-1676).

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