Louis de Caullery

Brussels, Galerie Robert Finck, November 1970, no. 22.

Galerie Robert Finck, exhibition catalogue, Brussels 1970, cat. no. 22.

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 is painted on two pieces of oak joined horizontally through the center. The reverse of the panel has some reinforcements, which seem to be supporting the panel and the paint layer quite well. There has been some slight instability in the upper left edge in the sky. Under ultraviolet light, it is evident that retouches have been added in the piazza in the foreground and in a few spots in the dark building on the left. The condition seems to be good in the figures and in the city in the distance, with restorations only visible across the original panel join. The sky shows some thinness and retouches, but nothing surprising. Therefore, the only area which requires thoughtful conservation is the dark building on the left.
"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."

Louis de Caullery shows the Campidoglio following the implementation of Michelangelo's extensive plans for the remodelling of the piazza, commissioned by the Farnese and largely completed in 1549.  Though an imagined column, perhaps intended as Trajan's Column, has been added upper left, the view is otherwise faithful.  It shows the classical facades of the flanking buildings, the oval formation surrounding the statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback and the beginning of the Cordonata staircase.  Michelangelo's distinctive paving design was not, in fact, laid until the 1940s.