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Collection d'un amateur européen
GIOVANNI FRANCESCO CASTIGLIONE (GÊNES 1641-1710)
Orphée charmant les animaux
Details
GIOVANNI FRANCESCO CASTIGLIONE (GÊNES 1641-1710)
Orphée charmant les animaux
huile sur toile
73 x 97,5 cm (28 ¾ x 38 1⁄3 in.)
Orphée charmant les animaux
huile sur toile
73 x 97,5 cm (28 ¾ x 38 1⁄3 in.)
Provenance
George Brudenell-Bruce (1804-1878), deuxième marquis d'Ailesbury, Tottenham House, Wiltshire ;
Puis par descendance dans la famille jusqu'à George Brudenell-Bruce (1873-1961), sixième marquis d'Ailesbury (1873-1961), par qui vendu au milieu du XXe siècle (selon les informations de provenance communiquées lors de la vente de 2001, voir infra).
Vente anonyme, Bonhams, Londres, 7 juillet 1999, lot 94 (comme Antonio Maria Vassallo).
Vente anonyme, Christie's, New York, 26 janvier 2001, lot 138 (comme Francesco Castiglione) ;
Acquis au cours de celle-ci par l'actuel propriétaire, France.
Puis par descendance dans la famille jusqu'à George Brudenell-Bruce (1873-1961), sixième marquis d'Ailesbury (1873-1961), par qui vendu au milieu du XXe siècle (selon les informations de provenance communiquées lors de la vente de 2001, voir infra).
Vente anonyme, Bonhams, Londres, 7 juillet 1999, lot 94 (comme Antonio Maria Vassallo).
Vente anonyme, Christie's, New York, 26 janvier 2001, lot 138 (comme Francesco Castiglione) ;
Acquis au cours de celle-ci par l'actuel propriétaire, France.
Further Details
GIOVANNI FRANCESCO CASTIGLIONE (1641-1710), ORPHEUS CHARMING THE ANIMALS, OIL ON CANVAS
Giovanni Francesco Castiglione (1641-1710) was the son and pupil of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, known as Il Grechetto (c.1609-1663⁄65). Francesco spent his formative years traveling with his father between their native city of Genoa and Rome, Venice, as well as the courts of Padua and Mantua. In 1663, around the time of his father’s death, Francesco received a commission from the Marquis Ottavio Gonzaga (1621-1663) to decorate a room in his villa at Portiolo, and in the following years he appears to have been largely supported by the Gonzaga family, being appointed court painter to Duke Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga (1652-1708) in 1681.
Like his father, Francesco specialized in works that combined the Italian tradition of history painting with the animal scenes of the Northern school, exemplified by artists such as Frans Snyders (1579-1657) and the Brueghel family, whose works were widely collected in Italy at the time. The composition of Orpheus Charming the Animals, which relegates the eponymous hero to the background and places the magnificent leopard at the center, closely follows Flemish models such as the Orpheus by Roelandt Savery (1576-1639), now in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht (inv. 2309), or the Paradise with the Fall of Man by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome (inv. FC341).
This minimization of the mythological narrative in favour of animal elements reflects humanist currents of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that contributed to what is now called the Scientific Revolution, (although the term remains debated). This period saw the emergence of a new interest in the categorisation of the environment, driven by a blend of empirical observation, natural theology (viewing nature as 'God’s great book'), and the desire to organise the world’s increasing diversity. It marked a shift from purely classical, textual knowledge to the active, physical collection of specimens. Castiglione privileges this contemporary approach in his painting. His subject is more zoological than mythological; each animal is meticulously observed, while Orpheus’s song floats to us from a great distance.
One of the rare drawings by Francesco Castiglione, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, depicts an assembly of animals that includes our leopard at lower right (fig. 1, inv. 08.227.25). The attribution to Castiglione is additionally supported by Dr. Mary Newcome, who saw the painting at the time of the auction in 2001.
Giovanni Francesco Castiglione (1641-1710) was the son and pupil of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, known as Il Grechetto (c.1609-1663⁄65). Francesco spent his formative years traveling with his father between their native city of Genoa and Rome, Venice, as well as the courts of Padua and Mantua. In 1663, around the time of his father’s death, Francesco received a commission from the Marquis Ottavio Gonzaga (1621-1663) to decorate a room in his villa at Portiolo, and in the following years he appears to have been largely supported by the Gonzaga family, being appointed court painter to Duke Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga (1652-1708) in 1681.
Like his father, Francesco specialized in works that combined the Italian tradition of history painting with the animal scenes of the Northern school, exemplified by artists such as Frans Snyders (1579-1657) and the Brueghel family, whose works were widely collected in Italy at the time. The composition of Orpheus Charming the Animals, which relegates the eponymous hero to the background and places the magnificent leopard at the center, closely follows Flemish models such as the Orpheus by Roelandt Savery (1576-1639), now in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht (inv. 2309), or the Paradise with the Fall of Man by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome (inv. FC341).
This minimization of the mythological narrative in favour of animal elements reflects humanist currents of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that contributed to what is now called the Scientific Revolution, (although the term remains debated). This period saw the emergence of a new interest in the categorisation of the environment, driven by a blend of empirical observation, natural theology (viewing nature as 'God’s great book'), and the desire to organise the world’s increasing diversity. It marked a shift from purely classical, textual knowledge to the active, physical collection of specimens. Castiglione privileges this contemporary approach in his painting. His subject is more zoological than mythological; each animal is meticulously observed, while Orpheus’s song floats to us from a great distance.
One of the rare drawings by Francesco Castiglione, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, depicts an assembly of animals that includes our leopard at lower right (fig. 1, inv. 08.227.25). The attribution to Castiglione is additionally supported by Dr. Mary Newcome, who saw the painting at the time of the auction in 2001.
Brought to you by
Olivia Ghosh
Specialist