French School, circa 1560-70

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

Portrait of a gentleman, said to be Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572), Admiral of France and Seigneur de Châtillon
inscribed on the reverse GASPARD de COLIGNY/ MARCHAL of FRANCE
oil on panel

Provenance

Alfred S. Karlsen (Beverly Hills, California), by whom sold to Peter Moller;
Peter and Iselin Moller (Los Angeles, California), by whom donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1976;
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, no. 76.PB.42.

Literature

D. Jaffé, Summary Catalogue of European Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu 1997, p. 45, reproduced (as French School, 16th Century, Portrait of Charles de Gondi, Seigneur de la Tour).

Catalogue Note

When donated to the Getty Museum in 1976 (see Provenance) the sitter was given as Gaspard de Coligny, Admiral of France. Later this was rejected in favor of an identification as Charles de Gondi by comparison with a painting of the latter sold New York, Parke-Bernet, June 5, 1946, lot 156. There is, however, no resemblance between the two sitters and on this basis this identification must also be rejected. Comparison, however, with a portrait of De Coligny (inscribed with his name along the upper margin) by an anonymous hand in Paris, Bibliothèque de Protestantisme Français, reveals a distinct likeness between the two.

The inscription on the reverse confuses the presumed sitter with his father, who bore the same name, and who was created Marshal of France in 1516. The present work can be dated on stylistic grounds to the 1560s or early 1570s, which would put the alleged sitter in his forties or fifties.

This painting was formerly attributed to Corneille de Lyon by Prof. G. Fiocco and Prof. A. Morassi.