Lot 1080: Claudio Francesco Beaumont (Turin, 1694-1766)

Venus and Cupid enthroned among clouds
oil on canvas, unlined
28 3/4 x 23 1/8 in. (73 x 58.7 cm.)
with paper label to the reverse inscribed 'Aug. Tavernier Mostra del Barocco Piemontese Exp. SAR il Principe di Piemonte Beaumont'

S.A.R. Principe di Piemonte

Although French by birth, Claudio Francesco Beaumont became attached to the royal family of Savoy after securing the patronage of Vittore Amedeo II in Bologna in 1716. Vittore Amedeo sent him to Rome to study with Franceso Trevisani and on his final return in 1731 he was appointed court painter and entrusted with the most important commissions, notably in the decoration of Palazzo Reale. On this he worked for much of his life, painting classically inspired frescoes deeply imbued with the work of Sebastiano Ricci.

Beaumont's oeuvre, however, extended beyond the walls of Palazzo Reale. He made cartoons for the royal Turin tapestry factory and he enjoyed numerous commissions from churches within the principallity. His connection with the church was, furthermore, not merely commercial - in 1751 he became prior of the Confraternitá della Misericordia in Turin which still owns his Saint John Nepomuk before our Lady of Sorrows; others of his paintings can be seen in the Louvre, Paris (Juno sending Iris to Turnus) and the Musée des Beaux Arts Chambéry, (The family of Darius before Alexander.)
The present picture can be compared to a ceiling painting in the Palazzo Reale, Turin, depicting The Triumph of Venus which Beaumont painted in 1720 (See S. Pinto ed., Arte di Corte a Torino da Carlo Emanuele III a Carlo Felice, Turin, 1957, p. 146, illustrated). It also depicts Venus with a billowing cloak enthroned among the clouds. However in that work Venus is identified by the swans that draw her chariot rather than the doves represented in the present composition. (See S. Pinto ed., Arte di Corte a Torino da Carlo Emanuele III a Carlo Felice, Turin, 1957, p. 146, illustrated.)

We are grateful to Professor Daniele Sanguineti for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph.

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