Hendrik Frans van Lint, called Studio

Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga (1690-1756), Villa Paolina, Rome;
Thence by inheritance to his nephew, Luigi Valenti Gonzaga, Mantua and Rome;
Possibly offered for sale in auctions of Cardinal Valenti's collection held in Amsterdam, Hendrik de Leth, 18 May 1763 and Hendrik de Winter, 28 September 1763 (see catalogue note);
Acquired by the present collector in 2001.

Carlo Pietrangeli, Villa Paolina, Rome 1961, p. 48, no. 184 (together with its pendant, no. 185, as Quadri di palmi 2. per larghezza, e palmi 1., once 4 per altezza, rappresentanti paesi, in tela di M. Studio (reprint of Catalogo de'quadri, tuttavia esistenti nella galleria della Ch. Mem. Dell'E.mo Sig. Cardinale Silvio Valenti, 1760).¹

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 beautiful little picture is unlined and still stretched on its original stretcher. There are very subtle cracks to the paint layer, as is to be expected, yet they are not disturbing. The surface is clean and varnished. There are a few tiny spots of retouch visible in a few small places in the sky and there are two diagonal lines of retouching in the lower left corner where perhaps a crease or a scratch has been eliminated. Other than this, throughout the landscape and foliage there are no restorations. The painting is in marvelous condition and should be hung as is.
"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."

This painting was in the illustrious collection of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga (1690-1756), one of the most important collectors in Rome in the mid-18th century.  After serving as Papal Nuncio in Brussels and Madrid under Pope Clement XII, he was made cardinal in 1738 and was Secretary of State to Pope Benedict XIV.  He was keenly interested in the arts, helping to found and install the Pinacoteca Capitolina and to reopen the Accademia di San Luca.  His own personal art collection included not only paintings (over 800), but drawings, sculptures, Asian art objects, scientific instruments and a library of over 40,000 volumes.  Around 1749, the collection was placed in the Villa Paolina in Rome which was built to showcase the Cardinal's treasures.  Part of his vast collection was depicted by Giovanni Paolo Panini in an imaginary setting in his celebrated painting of 1749, Interior of a Picture Gallery with the Collection of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, now in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.

At the time of the 1760 inventory of the Cardinal's collection (see Literature), this painting was listed as no. 184 together with a pendant, no. 185.  Upon the Cardinal's death in 1756, his nephew and heir, Luigi Valenti Gonzaga, sold the villa.  Eventually, the collection was broken up and many of the paintings were sold at two auctions held in Amsterdam on 18 May and 28 September 1763.  No paintings by van Lint or "Studio" are listed in the 1763 auctions. However, many of the lots are not listed with artists' names or full descriptions and so it is difficult to know whether the present painting was offered in one of these auctions or remained in the Gonzaga family.

 

 

1.  Original manuscript in the Biblioteca Comunale, Mantua.