Pietro Paolini Lucca 1603 - 1681

The Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Methuen, K.B. (1672-1757), Grovesnor Street, London;
Thence by descent to his cousin and godson, Mr. Paul Methuen (1723-1795), Corsham House, Wiltshire;;
Thence by descent to his son, Paul Cobb Methuen (1752-1816), Corsham House, Wiltshire;
Thence by descent to his son, Paul Methuen (1779-1849), later 1st Baron Methuen of Corsham;
Thence by descent to his son, Frederick Henry Paul Methuen (1818-1891), 2nd Baron Methuen;
Thence by descent to his son, Paul Sanford Methuen (1845-1932), 3rd Baron Methuen;
Thence by descent to his son, Paul Ayshford Methuen (1886-1974), 4th Baron Methuen, Corsham Court, Wiltshire, as hanging in the Fourth Corridor Bedroom in 1939, if not earlier (see Borenius, under Literature);
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 26 May 1965, lot 21 (as "Raffaello del Colle - The head of young man in a brown coat and white chemise"), for £140, to Sestieri;
With Malcolm Waddingham, London, from 1966 until 1983, whence acquired by the present owner.

J. Britton, An Historical Account of Corsham House, in Wiltshire: the Seat of Paul Cobb Methuen, Esq. with a Catalogue of his Celebrated Collection of Pictures, London 1806,  cat. no. 184 (as "Head of a Slave,... RAP. DEL COLLE");
Catalogue of Pictures at Corsham, (privately printed) 1891, cat. no. 261 (as Raffaello del Colle);
Catalogue of Pictures at Corsham, (privately printed) 1903, cat. no. 249 (as Raffaello del Colle);
T. Borenius, A Catalogue of the Pictures at Corsham Court, London 1939, p. 14, cat. no. 23 (as by Raffaello del Colle");
B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement, Oxford 1979, pp. 77 and 234 (as Pietro Paolini);
B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, ed. Turin 1989, vol. I, pp. 155, 233, reproduced vol. II, fig. 382 (as Pietro Paolini).

In his catalogue of the collection of paintings at Corsham, Tancred Borenius maintained the painting's traditional attribution to Raffaello del Colle, despite not being wholly convinced by it. The painting was at one time considered to be Spanish (an inscription brushed on the reverse of the stretcher ascribes it rather implausibly to Velázquez), and Nicolson was the first to correctly ascribe the picture to the Lucchese painter Pietro Paolini. Between 1621 and 1629, during his sojourn in Rome, it seems likely that Paolini trained for a time in the workshop of Angelo Caroselli. Paintings from these early Roman years are more markedly Caravaggesque in style and it is quite possible that this painting was executed around this time. Paolini's naturalistic style characteristically adapts the chiaroscuro so typical of Caroselli's (and indeed of Caravaggio's) style to a more colourful palette, betraying his Tuscan roots (compare the painting by Paolini sold, London, Sotheby's, 12 July 2001, lot 68).

Sir Paul Methuen (1672-1757) was the eldest and only surviving son of the Rt. Hon. John Methuen (Methven) (1650-1706) of Bishop's Cannings, Wiltshire, and his wife Mary Chivers. He was secretary to his father and succeeded him as Ambassador in Lisbon upon the latter's death in 1706 (holding that office until 1709). Prior to that appointment he had been made Envoy to the King of Spain and Emperor of Morocco, returning to England in 1705; he helped his father negotiate the Treaty with Portugal (the "Port Wine Treaty" or "Methuen Treaty"); he was appointed Envoy to the court of Savoy in 1705; one of the Lords of the Admiralty in 1709; one of the Lords of the Treasury and Privy Councillor in 1714; Ambassador to the King of Spain in 1714; Principal Secretary of State in 1716; Comptroller of H.M. Household in 1720; and in 1725 K.B. and Treasurer of the Household (a post from which he resigned in 1730). He died unmarried on 11 April 1757. Largely thanks to his extensive travels abroad, Sir Paul assembled a large collection of Old Masters: Italian paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries were well represented, as well as French, Dutch, Flemish and Spanish paintings (the last of these were largely acquired during Sir Paul's term of office as Ambassador in Madrid, 1714-16). The collection, housed during Sir Paul's lifetime in Grovesnor Street, was left on his death to his cousin and godson Mr. Paul Methuen (1723-1795), who had acquired the large Elizabethan house of Corsham Court in 1745. Tradition has it that he acquired the property largely to house the art collection assembled by his cousin, and a number of paintings still remain in situ there. Reconstruction of the main house, first built in 1582 by Thomas Smythe (1522-1591), began as early as 1749 and continued well beyond the year of Sir Paul's death (1757). Lancelot ("Capability") Brown was appointed chief architect and the Adam brothers and Thomas Chippendale were employed to assist in the interior decoration of the house.