Marcantonio Franceschini

Commissioned from the artist by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein, on December 6, 1692, thence by descent in the family, until sold in Paris 1880.

J. Falke, Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bilder-Galerie im Gartenpalast der Rossau zu Wien, Vienna 1872, cat. no. 8;
D.C. Miller, "Franceschini's Drawings for the Liechtenstein Garden Palace," in Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, vol 38, no. 1, 1979, pp. 2-8, related drawing reproduced p. 4, fig. 6; related print reproduced p. 7, fig. 14; this article followed by V. Callahan's discussion of the related Meloni prints (see footnote 4 below);
D.C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini and the Liechtensteins: Prince Johann Adam Andreas and the Decoration of the Garden Palace at Rossau-Vienna, Cambridge 1991, p. 88, cat. no. 20, related drawing and print reproduced plates 64-5;
D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini, Turin 2001, p. 267, cat. no. 165.20.

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 painting has been recently restored should be hung as is. The painting is in very good condition. The canvas has been lined. There is one loss in the sky above the hip of Cupid but the remainder of the restoration appears to all be in the red curtain behind Venus where the glazes have required attention, particularly in the darker colors.
"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."

One of the best documented and richly realized of any relationship of patron and artist in the late Baroque, the association between the Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein and Marcantonio Franceschini produced some of the artist's best work, and one of the most coherent and grand decorative schemes of its day.  From 1691 and for a period of almost 20 years, the painter would produce for the Prince scores of paintings, all on mythological themes and painted in the coolly elegant and refined manner that would exemplify his style.¹ These were destined to decorate the newly constructed Gartenpalais on the outskirts of Vienna, a monument to the Prince's own power and taste.  Constructed in the Italian fashion, the building was to have two major salons, one dedicated to Venus and the other to Diana.  

This newly rediscovered Cupid wounding Venus was one of the soprafinestre sent by Franceschini to decorate the Venus Salon of the palace.  In a letter dated December 6, 1692, the Prince, who had already charged Franceschini with the decoration of the two rooms, decided to ask for a bit more to enliven them, writing "che sarà piu ornamento a queste due stanza [sic], far pitture sopra le fenestre, habbiamo annese l'altezze e larghezze di questi..."²  He then goes on to give the artist the sums of money he would pay, in a somewhat haughty manner: "per i quadri  sopra le fenestre, per ciascheduno 100. ducati: mentre non intrarà gran lavoro, che fà per nove fenestre 900 ducati...³

In keeping with the theme of the room, Franceschini chose to paint a Venus and Cupid.  But, rather than a simple pairing to the two ancient deities of Love, Mother and Son, the subject does appear to derive from a specific episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses (X.525 passim), a cautionary tale of the dangers of love:⁴

For Cytherea's lips while Cupid prest,
He with a heedless arrow raz'd her breast,
The Goddess felt it, and with fury stung,
The wanton mischief from her bosom flung:
Yet thought at first the danger slight, but found
The dart too faithful, and too deep the wound.⁵  

The result of this mishap would of course lead to disaster; Venus, herself not immune to the power of her son's arrows, would become infatuated with the doomed Adonis. 

Aware that he would be required to paint canvases to fit over the doors and windows of the room, the choice of subject seems well chosen by Franceschini, as Callahan has suggested (footnote 4, op. cit., p. 10).  The original preparatory drawing for the painting, now in the Princeton University Art Gallery (inv. 76-61c, see fig. 1), depicts the reclining Venus propped up on a pair of cushions, her hand raised at her son in rebuke.  This basic pose and concept was retained by the artist in his final canvas, although interestingly the figure of Cupid holds a bow in the drawing, which has been replaced with an arrow in the painting; evidently this change was made to more clearly define the narrative of the painting.  A print after the present painting was made by Francesco Antonio Meloni and was, until the reappearance of the present canvas, the main record of Franceschini's final composition. 

We are grateful to Dwight Miller for confirming the attribution of the present painting to Franceschini, based on  photographs.⁶

1.  For the definitive study of this relationship and the commissions it engendered, please see D. Miller, op. cit.
2.  [Trans. "...what will ornament these two rooms more, to make paintings for above the windows, we have attached the height and width herewith...]" original letter in the Liechtenstein archives, see D. Miller, 1991 op. cit., p. 198.
3.  [Trans. "...for the paintings for over the windows, 100 ducats for each one, as it won't take you a lot of work, which will be 900 ducats for the nine windows...."] See D. Miller, 1991 op. cit., p. 198.
4.  As suggested by V. Callahan, "Comments on the Iconography of Six Engravings by Meloni after Franceschini," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University Museum, 38, 9-10, reproduced fig. 14.
5.  Laurence Eusden translation, 1717.
6.  Verbal communication, November 2010.