Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario

Private collection, Germany.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar, who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. Structural Condition The artist's thick weave canvas has been lined onto a wooden keyed stretcher and this is ensuring an even and secure structural support. There is a horizontal line of what would appear to be a canvas extension or an earlier reduced turnover edge approximately 2.5 cm beneath the upper horizontal framing edge. Paint Surface The paint surface has a reasonably even varnish layer although inspection under ultra-violet light shows that there are layers of discoloured varnish suggesting that cleaning could be beneficial. Inspection under ultra-violet light also shows various stages of retouching, the most significant of which are, 1) retouching around the framing edges suggesting an earlier reduced sight edge, and in particular along the upper horizontal turnover edge where the retouchings stretch down into the background for approximately 5 cm. There are also bands of retouching on the left and right vertical framing edges which are approximately 2 cm in depth. 2) There are thin lines and very small areas of more recent retouching on the sitter's scarf and an area in the lower left corner which measures approximately 2 x 1 cm. There are other small scattered retouchings. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition with the majority of retouchings that are identifiable under ultra-violet light being around the framing edges.
"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 well preserved depiction of a young man is a typical work by Fra' Galgario, arguably the most idiosyncratic portrait-painter in northern Italy in the first half of the eigtheenth century. Born into a family of painters, he trained with several different artists both in Bergamo and Venice before his entry into the Order of the Minims in the monastery of Galgario in Bergamo in 1702 at the late age of forty-seven. Fra' Galgario focused his artistic attention on portraiture, producing both formal full-length works for the court, often of oval format,¹ and more informal bust-length depictions of both children and young men, often shown wearing hats or tricorns, such as in the present work. Fra' Galgario's work was sought after by the most important collectors of the day, among them Prince Eugenio of Savoy, who is known to have possessed four works by him and Marshal Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, who owned eleven works.

As in Fra' Galgario's other informal portraits, usually of similar dimensions to the present work, the sitter is shown close to the pictorial plane. The painter's sympathy towards his sitters is always palpable, and in this case it is no different. With the customary economy of brushwork of his mature phase, the shoulder and clothing are given no more definition than strictly necessary, while the strong colouring of the red hat is heightened by the fresh impasto. More time is taken instead in the modelling of the intense gaze of the sitter's face: form is not provided by clear lines so much as by a build-up of paint and colour, particularly discernible in this case thanks to the good condition of the paint surface.


1. See the work sold in these Rooms, 6 July 2011, lot 67, for £270,000.