Hendrik Frans van Lint, called Lo Studio

Sir Sydney Barratt (1898–1975), Crowe Hall, Bath;

Thence by inheritance to his son John Barratt (d. 2009), Crowe Hall, Bath;

By whom posthumously sold ('The Barratt Collection—from Crowe Hall, Bath'), London, Christie's, 16 December 2010, lot 316;

Acquired subsequently by the present owner.

Comparable views of the Colosseum by Van Lint are respectively in a private collection, Milan (in which the foreground figures are painted by Pompeo Batoni),¹ and a work sold at Sotheby’s, New York, in January 2016 for $87,500 (as one of a pair; its pendant depicting a view of Saint Peter’s Basilica).²

The view of the Baths of Caracalla is rarer and only features in another, larger, work sold at Christie’s, London, in March 1971 for £13,860 (as one of a pair; its pendant depicting the Baths of Diocletian).³

Note on Provenance

This work formed part of the celebrated collection of Sir Sydney Barratt (1898–1975), a distinguished chemist, industrialist and connoisseur. Born in Bristol in 1898, he served as a signaller in World War I before joining the chemicals company Albright & Wilson. During the Second World War he was seconded to Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet from 1942 to 1944 as a member of the scientific committee advising on the development of air warfare technologies, including the 'bouncing bomb' developed by Barnes Wallis. Throughout his distinguished career he amassed a superb collection of Old Master and British pictures, English furniture, silver, porcelain and Italian ‘Grand Tour’ bronzes. Following his death, the contents of his collection, including this lot, passed onto his son John Barratt, before being sold at auction in December 2010 (see Provenance).

¹ A. Busiri Vici, Peter, Hendrik e Giacomo Van Lint: Tre pittori di Anversa del '600 e '700 lavorano a Roma, Rome 1987, p. 206. no. 249, reproduced in colour.

² 'The Road to Rome: Property from a Distinguished Italian Private Collection', New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 2016, lot 318; Busiri Vici 1987, p. 57, no. 34, reproduced in colour.

³ Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Christie's, 26 March 1971, lot 72; Busiri Vici 1987, p. 63, no. 43, reproduced in colour.