Johann Wilhelm Baur

Princess d'Aremberg;

Her sale, Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, 15 November 1926, lot 7 (as Spanish School, 17th century);

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 29 January 2009, lot 216;

With Cesare Lampronti, London;

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2017, lot 193;

Where acquired by the present collector.

Tivoli, Villa d'Este, Paesaggio laziale tra ideale e reale, dipinti del XVII e XVIII secolo, 21 June - 1 November 2009, no. 22.

V. Schiafinni, in F. Petrucci, ed., Paesaggio laziale tra ideale e reale, dipinti del XVII e XVIII secolo, exhibition catalogue, Tivoli 2009, cat. no. 22, pp. 68-69. 

This painting is a rare work in oil by the German artist Johann Willem Baur, who is best known for his miniature watercolors and engravings depicting the villas and parks of Rome. Baur is recorded in Rome in the 1630s where he found steady work with a number of aristocratic patrons including the Duke of Bracciano and Ferdinando Colonna, Prince of Paliano. A small group of oil paintings have been assigned to Baur and the present painting can be compared to two other works ascribed to him: another View of the Gardens of the Villa d'Este, Tivoli (private collection, Rome) and a View of the Villa Borghese (private collection, Montreux).¹

^The Villa d'Este and gardens were built by Ippolito II d'Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, who was appointed governor of Tivoli in 1550. The gardens were designed by the architect and archaeologist Pirro Ligorio (circa 1510-1583) and are still captivating tourists today. 

1. See L. Salerno, Pittori di paesaggio del Seicento a Roma, Rome 1980, Vol. II, pp. 463, 465, reproduced figs. 74.2, 74.5.