Angelica Kauffman, R.A.

half length, seated, wearing a red velvet and fur trimmed jacket and lace collar

Lady V. Manners & Dr. G.C. Williamson, Angelica Kauffmann, R.A.; Her Life and Her Works, 1976, p. 145;
Memoria Della Pitture Fatte d'Angelica Kauffman, ed. IT Roma, 1998, p. 22

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined. PAINT SURFACE The painting appears to be in generally good condition. There are two small areas of paint loss to the lower left of the canvas, three small areas to the lower centre and one to the lower right. There is also some minor residue on the surface of the picture to the lower left. ULTRAVIOLET Examination under ultraviolet light reveals some minor retouching in the lower left of the canvas, to the clothes of the sitter and a small area on his chin. There is also a thick layer of discoloured varnish overall. FRAME Held in a carved and gilded wood frame.
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From a noble Roman family, the sitter was a descendent of Paolo Giordano Orsini, Duca di Bracciano (1537-1585) a hero of the Battle of Lepanto who had married Isabella de Medici, daughter of Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Further reinforcing the royal connections his sister Donna Maria Ottavia Odescalchi (1757-1829) had married Prince Guisepe Maria Rospigliosi in 1775.  

The sitter is recorded sitting to Kauffman in December 1784. Kauffman had recently returned to Italy in 1782 having spent the last sixteen years in England and settled with her new husband Antonio Zucchi (see following lot) in Rome. Clearly already established within Rome society Kauffman's sitter's records illustrate that she was busy fulfilling portrait commissions not only for noble residents and foreign visitors to Rome but also for the Royal Family of Naples and of the Two Sicilies (Vaduz, Liechtenstein Collection.) 

This elegant portrait is painted with delicate attention to detail, and on closer inspection the fur which lines the collar of the sitter's coat is almost tangible. It is comparable in style and composition to the portraits of Wolfgang Goethe, c. 1787 (Goethe-National Museum, Weimer) and Johan Gottfried Herder, 1789 (Bregrenz, Vorarlberger Landesmuseum).