Attributed to Charles François Poerson

Probably Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740).

Probably E.J. Olszewski, The Inventory of Paintings of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740), New York 2003, p. 90, no. C-200.

Unlined. under a dull and flat old varnish. the paint surface has been very well preserved and there is very nice impasto and detail throughout the figure. under UV: some retouching can be seen around some areas of the outer edge. there is an area of retouching in the upper background to the right of his head. on figure, there are some very small and scattered retouches on hands and neck and some tiny ones on face. overall the painting looks quite good and would benefit from a fresh varnish.
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This circular canvas appears to be related to a series of paintings that were commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740) in Rome in 1713.  This series consisted of the Virgin Mary, Christ and the Apostles, and was given to some of the leading artists in Rome at that time, including Francesco Trevisani, Giuseppe Ghezzi, Sebastiano Conca and others.  The paintings were exhibited in the cloister of San Salvatore in Lauro and the paintings and their respective artists are known from a document produced at the time of the 1713 exhibition.¹  Three paintings from the series, all in their original frames, are now in the collection of the Vatican Museum:  Saint Peter (by Trevisani); Saint Simon (by Luigi Garzi); and Saint Jude Thaddeus (by Giovanni Antonio Creccolino).  The frame on the present work appears to be identical to those on the Vatican paintings.²  Four others were sold at auction in Paris in 2006 and another painting by Trevisani depicting Saint Joseph with the Flowering Rod has been possibly linked to this series.³  The present painting may be identifiable with the one depicting Saint James Minor, listed in the 1713 exhibition as by “Sr Cav.r. Porson,” and later listed in an inventory of paintings belonging to Ottoboni, done in 1742 after his death, as "Carlo Fran.co Person."  Charles-François Poerson, was a French born artist and son of the painter Charles Poerson, who spent much of his career working in Rome; he was appointed Director of the French Academy in Rome in 1704.  Unfortunately, little of his artistic work survives with which to make a stylistic comparison. The identification of the saint in this work as St. James Minor is also somewhat tentative.  He is usually shown holding a fuller’s staff, a tool used in the process of finishing cloth; it is possible that the staff here decpicted can be interpreted as a fuller’s staff with a piece of wool secured a the top.

The remnant of a red wax seal affixed to the reverse of the frame, which depicts a paschal lamb, may bear the arms of either Van Ommen, of Holland, or Petit of Flanders.



1.  See C. Pietrangeli, “Alla ricerca di una serie di dipinti ottoboniani,” in Strenna dei Romanisti, 1980, pp. 399-40.
2.  See C. Pietrangeli, op.cit., p. 398, where one of the Vatican paintings is reproduced in its frame.
3.  Four paintings sold at Paris, Christie’s, 22 June 2001, lots 28-32, depicting Saints Matthew, Phillip, James the Major and Barnabas, and were more recently with Fabio Megna, Rome; Saint Joseph sold, London, Sotheby’s, 9 July 2008, lot 159.