Attributed to Martin van Meytens the Younger

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This marvelous picture is in very good state. The canvas has an old glue lining although the cupping to the paint layer is quite noticeable and a fresh lining would improve the surface. The picture is almost completely unabraded and the details in the still life and the fine architectural drawing on the right have been beautifully preserved. All other areas of the picture show great undamaged details. There is what appears to be a break in the canvas in the forehead of the figure and there may be a restoration here and above it. For the most part however, this picture is in beautiful state and will respond very well to a fresh campaign of restoration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present painting would appear to be a portrait of Count Giacomo Durazzo (1717-1794), the famous collector, diplomat and operatic director.  Born into the noble Durazzo family of Genoa (his elder brother, in fact, became Doge), he was appointed as a trade envoy to Vienna.  There he became close to Chancellor Kaunitz, Maria Theresa's most trusted advisor, and as a result received a number of important appointments from the Imperial court.  Perhaps the most significant of these was his appointment in the spring of 1754 to the position of Generalspektakeldirektor which made him responsible for the running of the Burgtheater and the Kärntnerthortheater, and thus the leading producer of opera and theater in the city.  In this position he used his influence to "modernize" the genres, bringing in French elements as well as pushing forward talent that he deemed worthy.  In the latter capacity, he deserves particular esteem as the champion of the composer Glück and the playwright Goldoni, and also for organizing the young Mozart's premiere in the capital.

Despite his significant achievements in the musical field, however, his position at court was insecure, it seems, because of rivalries and an indiscretion with a ballerina (calculated to annoy the Empress's extremely rigid sense of moral rectitude).  However, through the offices of his friend and patron Kaunitz, he was retained in the Imperial service, but sent abroad, as the ambassador to Venice (1764). 

It was at this point that the second great cultural achievement of Durazzo's life was realized.  Arriving in Venice, he began to amass a large and important collection of prints, acting as an agent for Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, and also for his own collection. In an astoundingly short period of two years, he was able to acquire, systemize and catalogue some 30,000 prints.  His canny eye also realized the quality and importance of early Italian painters, and as they could not be represented by prints in the collection, he commissioned engravings to be made after examples of their compositions.  These were all handed over to the Duke in 1776 and were to form the nucleus of the Albertina.

Despite his deep involvement with artistic life both in Vienna and Venice, few portraits of Durazzo were made.  The present painting, in fact, appears to be related to two of these.  The first is the important double-portrait of Count Giacomo Durazzo and his Wife, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 50.50) by Marten van Meytens, the Younger.  That painting depicts Durazzo in the guise of a hunter, seated with his wife in a landscape, beside the quarry of the day.  He wears nearly the identical costume as in the present painting: a red jacket embroidered in gold along the lapels and on the sleeves; the same black solitaire (collar band), and his hair tied with the same black ribbon.  The Metropolitan portrait is perhaps fuller of face than the present canvas, but the correspondence of the two is very strong. 

The other comparable portrait of the Count was undertaken by Jacob Schmutzer, the painter and engraver, who had assisted him in the prints collection.  Schmutzer produced an engraved likeness of Durazzo in 1765 (see fig. 1) which he clearly derived from the Meytens portrait.  The change of the sitter's attitude is obvious, and in fact relates more closely to the present canvas.  Durazzo is shown in three-quarter pose, his left hand raised in gesture towards a bookcase in the background while his right  hand rests on a portfolio (presumably of prints) before him.  As far as the print makes it possible, it seems that the costume in the print is the same as that of the Meytens portrait and the present example; he wears a (red?) coat elaborately embroidered with the same solitaire.  The print adds the classicizing note of a drape across his jacket.  In the present portrait, Durazzo also points behind him, in this case to an architectural drawing (as yet undetermined) which the inscription on the plan suggests he himself designed.  His right hand is somewhat upraised, again raised on a portrfolio of prints or drawings.  These types of alterations appear to have been instigated by Durazzo himself, and related to his changing position.