Aufrufe
vor 1 Jahr

Eine bedeutende norditalienische Sammlung

  • Text
  • Wwwhampelauctionscom
  • Paintings
  • Hampel

French was available

French was available from 1618, translated by François de Rosset. In de Rosset’s translation, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza were illustrated for the first time on the title page. This image also served as one of the most important representations of the two heroes in later editions, which were adopted and adapted, for example, for the London print of 1620 and for the version published in Paris by Arnold Cottinet in 1639. This is also the depiction with which the Maître des Cortèges may have been most familiar with when he began to compose his own version of the subject. The anonymous engraving shows the two figures riding astride, as in the present painting, across a vast landscape with a low horizon. However, the two riders face to the left and move forward instead of stopping, as seems to be the case in the present painting. Quixote wears his peculiar helmet, and instead of the country inn in the distance, the anonymous artist has depicted the more symbolic windmill on a distant hill. Sancho Panza is dressed more like a groom or servant, while in the present painting he is depicted as a French peasant with a cloak and tall hat, again referring to the tradition of the Le Nain brothers. The unusual choice of subject suggests that, despite the book’s popularity, our Don Quixote was commissioned rather than painted by the Master out of speculation. Although the painting's original owner is unknown, it is believed that it was painted for a Spanish patron then living in Paris who wanted a visual representation of what was already considered his country’s literary masterpiece. Certainly, the Le Nain brothers and probably their immediate circle, which must also have included the Master of Processions, were famous enough as artists to receive such a commission from abroad. Among the major religious paintings created by the Le Nain brothers early in their careers there actually is a series of four upright paintings depicting the Life of the Virgin. Although there are no early records of the commission, the painting of the Annunciation now at the Church of Saint- Jacques du Haut-Pas in Paris, features a distinctive and elaborate coat of arms on the Prié-Dieu of the Virgin. It has been identified as the coat of arms of Don Antonio Pimentel Barroso de Rovera, Marques de Mirabel, who was Spanish ambassador to the French court from 1630-32 and who probably commissioned the series from Le Nain during his brief stay in the French capital. However, speculation about Spanish patronage for Don Quixote is made even clearer by an X-ray of the canvas. According to Sotheby’s report from 2008, the composition was painted over another portrait format painting also depicting the Annunciation, with the contours of the original painting outlined in black. The depiction of the subject is quite like the Pimentel painting: it shows the Virgin in profile and in the lower left half of the composition looking up at the floating Gabriel, with a still life element also in the lower right half of the composition, in this case a large vase of flowers (perhaps lilies?) resting on a book. The relationship between the two works is striking and given the depiction of a Spanish literary subject in the finished painting, the question arises as to the relationship between the present Don Quixote and the Annunciation by Le Nain painted for Pimentel. For example, did the Maître know Pimentel’s painting first-hand, which is very likely, and in what capacity – as Le Nain’s assistant? And was the painting beneath Don Quixote also commissioned by a Spanish patron that was abandoned and then reused, perhaps for the same patron who presumably paid for the materials or advanced the artist to depict Don Quixote? While this cannot be ascertained for sure, it does suggest interesting possibilities that may bring the Maître even closer to the Le Nain brothers. Provenance: Sotheby’s, New York, 24 January 2008, lot 79. Literature: Pierre Rosenberg, Tout l’œuvre peintre des Le Nain, Paris 1993, p.102, n. C79 (as Maître des Cortèges). € 200.000 - € 300.000 Sistrix INFO | BIETEN 54 HAMPEL ONLINE Visit www.hampel-auctions.com for around 7.000 additional images.

HAMPEL KUNSTAUKTIONEN