L12309

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Lot 30
  • 30

Ilario Spolverini

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Ilario Spolverini
  • scenes from the marriage of elisabetta farnese to philip v of spain at parma, 1714; and a battle scene
  • All pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk;
    all bear inscriptions in brown ink

Four, pen and brown ink and washes

Provenance

(Only for The Entry of Duchess Dorothea Farnese into Parma on the occasion of the Wedding, dimensions 310 by 583 mm),
With B. Houthakker, Amsterdam, 1966, no. 44

Condition

All four drawings are framed in modern dark wood frames. Drawings have not been examined out of their frames. The medium remains fairly fresh in all drawings with the pen and ink and wash still vibrant. There is surface dirt and foxing on all the sheets and some areas have been made up at the margins. Overall the drawings are in fairly good condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Three of the four drawings in this lot depict scenes from the marriage by proxy of Elisabetta Farnese (1692-1766), daughter of Odoardo II, Prince of Parma, to Philip V of Spain on the 24 December 1714 at Parma, in the presence of the papal legate Cardinal Ulisse Gozzadini and the Spanish Cardinal Acquaviva.  Spolverini, famous for his large battle compositions, worked for various noble families including the Farnese, under whose patronage and guidance he was commissioned to record the family dynasty.  The artist completed a series of sketches of the marriage which were to serve as the basis for a commemorative volume of engravings and these sketches were later translated into a series of paintings, destined for the court at Colorno, seat of the Duchess Dorothea Sofia, Elizabeth's mother, and for those at Parma and Piacenza.

The sketches immortalised this special occasion and also provided pictorial evidence to document the details of this highly prestigious event.  In the three drawings in this lot we are led through various stages of the marriage from the arrival of Elizabeth at Parma, the actual ceremony and then the departure after the nuptials have taken place.  As preliminary works they are vitally important and allow us to see the progression of events and the immediacy of the artist as he records the details.  Spolverini's abilities to execute large battle scenes are evident in the present sketches as one can see a clear succession of events much like a battle where the scene can be read from one end of the canvas to the other in a narrative style.  They are working drawings where Spolverini has added and changed details, visible in the added sections of paper, much like a collage effect.  He also joined together several sheets of paper to enable a continuity of events.

The paintings that record the marriage are today divided between the Museo Municipio in Parma, the Museo Civico (Palazzo Farnese) in Piacenza and the Palazzo Reale in Caserta. The majority of the other sketches have since been dispersed, though one survives in the British Museum.1  For a discussion of the entire commission see, R.A. Riccardi, Ilario Spolverini: pittore di battaglie e ceremonie, exhibition catalogue, Piacenza, Cassa di Risparmio, 1979, pp. 30-31, 68-69, 71-72, nos. 66 and 69.

Also included in this lot is a study for a battle scene, possibly a preliminary work for one of Spolverini's larger canvases.  The composition is reminiscent of one of his paintings, Scena di Assedio a un castello, Circolo della Stampa, Milan.2

1. The Marriage Procession of King Philip V and Elisabetta Farnese, Parma 1714 (British Museum, inv. no. Oo,3.3)

2. G. Sestieri, Battle Painters, Italian and Foreign Masters of the XVII and XVIII centuries, Antiche Lacche, 1999, p. 497, no. 35