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Lot 316: BARTOLOMÉ GONZÁLEZ VALLADOLID CIRCA 1564 - CIRCA 1627/8 MADRID

Est: £80,000 GBP - £120,000 GBPSold:
Sotheby'sLondon, United KingdomDecember 09, 2004

Item Overview

Description

oil on canvas, in a carved and gilt wood frame

Dimensions

114.5 by 97.5 cm.; 45 by 38 1/4 in.

Literature

A. de Ceballos-Escalera y Gila, Marqués de la Florista, La Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, Madrid 2000, p. 314, no. 314, reproduced, as in the Martorell Collection.

Provenance

Doña María Ana de Silva y Toledo, Duquesa de Medina Sidonia (according to an old label on the reverse);
Don Pedro Añés, Barcelona, by 1894;
His sale, Berlin, Lepke, 1 May 1894, lot 34, reproduced, as 'Zeitgenosse des Velasquez, Halbfigur des Herzogs von Medina Sidonia';
Probably in the Martorell Collection, Spain (as listed by Ceballos-Escalera y Gila).

Notes

This handsome portrait, believed to represent Don Antonio de Moncada y Aragón, V Duque de Montalto, is by the royal portrait painter Bartolomé González. It is a relatively early work by the artist and reveals the significant influence exerted on his style by the work of the royal portraitist of the previous generation, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz.

According to Palomino González trained with Patricio Cajés, although he is first documented in 1606, after which he worked for the court in a number of locations, including Burgos, Lerma, El Pardo and the Escorial. He succeeded Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (whose will he witnessed) on the latter's death in 1608, and completed the series of royal portraits commissioned from De la Cruz for the gallery of the palace of El Pardo, replacing those which had been lost in the fire of 1604. Surviving documentation (dated between 1617 and 1621) records that González painted more than a hundred portraits of members of the royal family and the court, many of which remain as yet unidentified. In 1617 the artist was appointed Pintor del Rey to Philip III (in preference over Juan de Roelas), whose royal portrait along with that of his wife Doña Margarita of Austria, dated 1621, is today in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. His portrait style continued the court tradition of Anthonis Mor, Alonso Sánchez Coello and Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, and formed a link with the following generation of painters, notably Rodrigo Villandrando (see lot 315) and Felipe Diricksen.

The style of the present work can be compared to González's portrait of Doña Margarita of Austria (see Alonso Sánchez Coello y el Retrato en la Corte de Felipe II, exhibition catalogue, Madrid, Museo del Prado, June - July 1990, p. 51, reproduced). Both paintings are characterised by a remarkable attention to detail, in particular in the rendering of the costume and armour, and a smooth handling of the flesh tones, which are rendered with a pale tonality. An x-radiograph of the present painting reveals that the artist has changed the positioning of the sitter's right arm, which originally was depicted raised, holding his military baton, the pentimento still perceptible in the original.

The supposed sitter, Don Antonio de Moncada y de Aragón, V Duque de Montalto, received the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece on 16 April 1607 from the Viceroy of Naples, the Marqués de Villena. It seems likely that the present portrait was commissioned from González soon afterwards to commemorate the occasion.

The attribution to Bartolomé González has been confirmed by Dr. Maria Kusche Zetelmayer.

Auction Details

Spanish Old Master Paintings

by
Sotheby's
December 09, 2004, 12:00 AM EST

34-35 New Bond Street, London, LDN, W1A 2AA, UK