Lot 43: FRANCESCO BRIZIO BOLOGNA CIRCA 1574-1623

THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS CATHERINE AND FRANCIS

measurements note
39 3/4 by 29 3/4 in.; 101 by 75.5 cm.

an old inscription on the reverse of the relining canvas: B^o68 Ital:^eEN N^o15

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Eugène de Beauharnais (1781-1824), Leuchtenberg Palace, Munich (after his death the painting formed part of the Leuchtenberg Majorats Fideicommiss., inv. no. 101, according to an old label on the reverse);
Thence by family descent;
Norkiska Kompaniet Department Stores, Stockholm, before 1917;
By whom sold ("Public Sale of Paintings Belonging to Nordiska Kompaniet Department Stores from the Leuchtenberg Collection"), Stockholm, 1917, no. 22, reproduced (as by Parmigianino; probably identifiable with the old label on the reverse of the stretcher: L./N^o22).

EXHIBITED

St. Petersburg, Imperial Art Gallery, Exhibition of Paintings from Nicholas Maximilien Leuchtenberg, 1886, no. 31, p. 9 in the catalogue (as by Parmigianino).

LITERATURE

J.N. Muxel, Catalogue des tableaux de la galerie de feu son Altesse Royale le Prince Eugène duc de Leuchtenberg, Munich 1838, p. 26, no. 21 (as by Parmigianino; probably identifiable with the old label on the reverse of the frame: N^o21);
J.N. Muxel, Gemälde Sammlung in München: Seiner Königl. Hoheit des Dom Augusto Herzogs von Leuchtenberg und Santa Ceuz Fürsten von Eichstädt..., Munich 1835-41, p. 73, no. 21, reproduced as an engraving (as by Parmigianino);
J.N. Muxel, Gemälde-Sammlung seiner Haiser. Hoheit des herzogs von Leuchtenberg in München, Frankfurt-am-Main 1851, reproduced as an engraving on p. 61 (as by Parmigianino).

NOTE

We are grateful to Dott. Alessandro Brogi for first proposing the attribution to Francesco Brizio, on the basis of photographs.

Brizio only became a painter after he was twenty years old, having dedicated his youth to the profession of his father Gian Ludovico Brizio; a cobbler. He received his earliest artistic training under Bartolomeo Passerotti but it was under Ludovico Carracci that Brizio really began to excel, leading Malvasia to describe him as "uno de' grandi allievi" [one of the great pupils] who came out of the Accademia degli Incamminati that had been founded by the Carracci in Bologna. It was during this period that Brizio developed his skills as an engraver, often borrowing Carracci designs or drawings for his compositions. He also undertook his first important painting commissions collaborating with other artists, the most important of which was Lionello Spada, who worked with Brizio on a series of frescoes for the Oratorio della SS. Trinità in Pieve di Cento (for Brizio's Lot and His Daughters and Jacob's Dream see F. Frisoni, in La Scuola dei Carracci, dall' Accademia alla Bottega di Ludovico, ed. E. Negro and M. Pirondini, Modena 1994, reproduced in color pp. 76-7, figs. 75 and 76). The background in Jacob's Dream has much in common with that in the present canvas, and Brizio may have had recourse to Nicolò dell'Abate for inspiration. Indeed Brizio was much influenced by the works of Emilian painters such as Correggio, Primaticcio and above all Parmigianino, to whom this painting was once attributed.

Brogi has suggested a date of execution for this painting some time between 1605 and 1610, although a comparison with Brizio's other works from the first two decades of the 17th century might suggest a slightly later date, perhaps into the first half of the 1610s. Indeed an interesting point of reference is Brizio's altarpiece of The Communion of Saint Catherine of Siena in the Chiesa di San Domenico, Bologna, which has been dated to 1612 or slightly later (see F. Frisoni, op. cit., pp. 68-9, reproduced in color on p. 80, fig. 79). Although characteristic of the artist's style the present painting would appear to be one of Brizio's most accomplished works, and its reappearance after more than a century is therefore particularly significant.

This painting boasts an illustrious provenance for it once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte's stepson, Eugène de Beauharnais (1781-1824), and hung in the Leuchtenberg Palace in Munich for much of the 19th century. Eugène was born in Paris, the natural son of Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais (1760-94) and Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie (1763-1814), who later married Napoleon in 1796 (the religious ceremony took place in 1804). At eighteen years of age Eugène served as aide-de-camp for Napoleon in Egypt, becoming colonel in 1802 and general two years later. He was made Arch-Chancellor of State and after Napoleon had created the kingdom of Italy in 1805, Eugène served as his Viceroy (until the end of the kingdom in 1814). Napoleon, who was still childless by his marriage with Joséphine, adopted Eugène on January 12, 1806, and later that year Eugène married Augusta of Bavaria (1788-1851), daughter of Maximilian I, the king of Bavaria from 1806 until 1825. After Napoleon's downfall in 1814 Eugène moved to Munich permanently and it was his father-in-law Maximilian I who bestowed upon him the titles of Prince of Eichstätt and Duke of Leuchtenberg in 1817, after which the Leuchtenberg Palace became his official residence. The Leuchtenberg Palace, located on Munich's elegant Odeonplatz, was acquired by the Bavarian government in 1957 and now houses the Ministry of Finance.