Pedro Orrente

Collection of Don Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán, Marqués del Carpio, Marqués de Eliche, Duque de Montoro, Conde-Duque de Olivares and Conde de Morente (1629 – 1687), listed in his inventory dated 1^st June 1651, no. 187, and in his posthumous inventory drawn up in Naples in 1687, as no. 178;
Possibly in the collection of Don Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Falcó, 10^th Duque de Berwick and 17^th Duque de Alba (1878 – 1953), recorded in an appendix to his inventory drawn up by A.M. Barcia in 1914;
In the collection of Don Josef-María Farré Escofet, Barcelona, by 16 September 1976;
Thence by family descent to the present owners.

Barcelona, Sala Parés, Obras Maestras de la Pintura Española del Siglo XVII, June 1972, no. 10;
London, Royal Academy of Arts, The Golden Age of Spanish Painting, 10 January – 14 March 1976, no. 21.

 

Inventory of works belonging to Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán, Marqués del Carpio, Marqués de Eliche, Duque de Montoro, Conde-Duque de Olivares and Conde de Morente (1629 – 1687), compiled by Don Carlos de Baracena and dated 1^st June 1651, no. 187, and in his posthumous inventory drawn up in Naples in 1687, as no. 178;
A.M. Barcia y Pavón, Catálogo de la Colección de Pinturas del Excmo. Sr. Duque de Berwick y de Alba, 1914, pp. 349-50;
D. Angulo Iñiguez & A.E. Pérez Sánchez, Historia de la Pintura Española, Escuela Toledana de la Primera Mitad del Siglo XVII, Madrid 1972, p. 332, no. 324, reproduced plate 250;
Exhibition catalogue, The Golden Age of Spanish Painting, London, Royal Academy of Arts, 10 January – 14 March, 1976, p. 46, no. 21, reproduced p. 93, no. 21;
M.B. Burke & P. Cherry, Spanish Inventories 1, Collections of Paintings in Madrid, 1601 – 1755, part 1, The J. Paul Getty Trust 1997, p. 474, no. 187, and p. 840, no. 178.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas is lined and the paint layer is raised and unstable with recent losses. There are visible conserved and restored tears and losses across the surface and three of the edges have been retouched. The restoration has degraded and the tears are prominent. Some of the paint surface is abraded, e.g. St. Stephen's robe and other more thinly painted areas. Despite the above, there are still areas is good preserved condition. Offered in a gilt wood frame in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

During the mid-17^th century this depiction of The Stoning of Saint Stephen by Pedro Orrente formed part of the distinguished collection assembled by Don Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán, Marqués del Carpio, Marqués de Eliche, Duque de Montoro, Conde-Duque de Olivares and Conde de Morente (1629 – 1687), one of the greatest Spanish collectors of the 17^th century.

Whilst in the great Carpio collections the painting hung along with a companion picture, traditionally identified as Fray Guarin (but in all probability illustrating Saint Paul the Hermit in the Wilderness), a canvas of almost identical dimensions (110 by 128 cm.), listed by Angulo Iñiguez and Pérez Sánchez in 1972 as in the collection of the Conde de Nieva, Brussels at the date of publication.¹  Both paintings are recorded in two inventories of the Marqués del Carpio's collection, the first of which, dated 1^st June 1651, was drawn up by Don Carlos de Baracena and lists the present work under no. 187, described as:

'[187] Una pintura en lienço del martirio de san estevan de mano de orente de dos baras y media de ancho y Una y quarta de Cayda con su marco negro.'

The companion piece is listed under no. 200 in the same inventory and described as:

'Un pais pintado en el fr. Guarin quando Los caçadores Le traparen entre Unas piedras 1 [?] Con los perros de mano de orrente de Vara y quarta de Cayda y dos baras de ancho cons su marco negro.'

Both paintings subsequently feature in a posthumous inventory drawn up by Jayme Antonio Redoutey on the death of the Marqués del Carpio in Naples in 1687, in which they are listed consecutively under nos. 178 & 179.²  The present work is valued at 1,700 Reales, its companion piece at 1,500 Reales, and both works appear to be listed as hanging in the Oratorio of the Viceroy's Palace and set within gilded frames. The present work is described as:

'[178] otro Lienzo de sⁿ estevan quando le apedreaban original del dho Pedro Orrentte El el techo en mill y settecienttos Rs 1700.'

According to Angulo Iñiguez and Pérez Sánchez the reverse of the original canvas is brushed with the distinctive cipher (GdeH in ligature) of the Marqués del Carpio, today covered by the lining canvas.


1. See D. Angulo Iñiguez and A.E. Pérez Sánchez, op. cit., p. 339, no. 352, reproduced plates 258-59.
2. See M.B. Burke & P. Cherry, op. cit., p. 841, nos. 178 & 179.