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An Italian pietre dure and marble plaque depicting St. John the Evangelist within a gilt-bronze frame, Florentine, Grand Ducal Workshop, commissioned by The Holy Roman Emperor Francis I (1708-1765) in 1749
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- hardstones, bronze
- 65.5cm. high, 53.5cm wide; 2ft. 1¾in., 1ft. 9in.
seated with the book of the gospel and holding a quill, his robe is green jadeite and red Candia jasper, the flesh in Volterra chalcedony, the hair in Sicilian jasper and Egyptian cailloux, to the right of the figure is the emblem of the saint, the eagle, the plumage in petrified wood, within an oval frame of black Belgian marble applied with low relief scrolling foliage in chalcedony within a rectangular gilt-bronze frame with moulded corners, the reverse with a support in oak
Provenance
Commissioned by Francis Stephen of Lorraine (1708 –1765), Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737, later Francis I (1745-65), Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 (see fig.1) and the consort of Maria Theresa (1717–1780) and sent to him in Vienna in 1749, and thereafter possibly given as an Imperial gift to a member of the Zichy family, most probably Count Károly II. József Ferenc Xaver Zichy (1753–1826), (see fig. 2);
By family repute thence by descent to the Counts Zichy probably at Palazzo Grassi, Venice.
Thence by descent to a European Nobleman.
By family repute thence by descent to the Counts Zichy probably at Palazzo Grassi, Venice.
Thence by descent to a European Nobleman.
Condition
In very good original condition. Beautiful choice of stones and detail displaying virtuoso craftsmanship. The panel has some miniscule losses at North, West, East and South on the plaque eg the small roundel on the top and one on the side and one on the base together with part of a scroll in the center of the top and another in the middle of left side and a very minor section of the black ground in the middle of the right side which can easily be restored. There is a slightly raised hairline crack running through the eagle head as visible from the catalogue photograph, which does not need attention. The gilt-bronze is slightly dirty and would benefit from a light clean according to taste.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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
Text by Anna Maria Giusti
This plaque shows the figure of St John Evangelist made of pietre dure a commesso within an oval surround of black Belgian marble edged in gilt bronze. The saint is shown seated with the book of the gospel and holding a quill, his robe is green jadeite and his cloak is of red Candia jasper; different shades of Volterra chalcedony have been used to depict the flesh tones and the hair is made up of Sicilian jasper and Egyptian cailloux.
To the right of the figure is the emblem of the saint, the eagle whose plumage is rendered in petrified wood. The oval frame of black Belgian marble has applied stylised bas relief foliage, with chalcedony from the Grigioni in Switzerland, cut into it. The whole thing is set in a fluted square frame, of gilt-bronze with moulded corners.
Documents from the archives enable us to identify this work exactly as ‘il quadro con San Giovanni’ – ‘the picture with St John’, made in the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence which in February 1749 was finished and about to be sent to Vienna.
On 28 February 1749 Louis Siries, who, the previous year had become director of the Galleria dei Lavori, the workshops where the pietre dure works were made, was reimbursed 8 zecchini ‘per dorare l’ornamento del quadro di San Giovanni di pietre dure’ – ‘for the gilding of the ornament for the Saint John of pietre dure’ (ASF, GM Appendice 11, c.95).
The reimbursement to Siries features in another register, which, as well as the gilding of the ‘cornice del quadro di San Giovanni fatto di pietre dure’ – ‘the frame of the picture of St John done in pietre dure’ - also notes the expense ‘per l’adorno di bronzo di una cassetta di pietre dure di bassorilievo, tanto l’una che l’ altro per mandarsi a Vienna a Sua Maestà Imperiale’ – ‘for the bronze ornament for a box with pietre dure bas reliefs, both of which are to be sent to Vienna to his Imperial Majesty’. (ASF, GM Appendice 71, c.620).
On the same day, 28 February, Filippo Panzani, who had been working in the Galleria as ‘argentiere’ – silversmith for at least three years (ASF. G. M. 1404, c.27 v.), presents a bill for several pieces of work, amongst which is the item, ‘per avere saldato ad argento di mio n.4 cantonate centinate d’un legamento di bronzo gettato per un quadro d’un San Giovanni di pietre dure/ Per aver saldato n.12 vite attorno alla parte di dietro di detto ornamento ad argento di mio/ Per aver fato n.10 saldature di perni e tasselli al suddetto ornamento/ per aver saldato l’ovato che sta dentro al suddetto quadro, limato, pulito e rinettato per dorare/ Per avere dorato tutti i suddetti bronzi e annessovi tutti i bronzi che devono servire per l’adorno d’una cassetta di pietre dure’ – ‘for having soldered with silver supplied by myself, four curved corners of a bronze mount cast for a picture of Saint John of pietre dure/for having soldered 12 screws for the back of this ornament using silver supplied by myself/ for having made 10 soldered pins and dowels for the above mentioned object/ for having soldered the oval which is set into this picture, filed down, cleaned and prepared for gilding/ for having gilded all these above-mentioned bronze pieces and fixed onto it all the bronze pieces that make up the mounts of a pietre dure box’. (ASF, G. M. Appendice 71, c.628).
The picture of Saint John was therefore made for Francis Stephen of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737 and as the consort of Maria Teresa, Holy Roman Emperor from 1745. Although he only made one visit to Florence and the territories of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in 1739, he knew and appreciated the craftsmanship that the Medici had made so well known and prized all over Europe. From the early years of his reign he commissioned many things which were then sent on to him in Vienna.
Amongst his commissions was this picture of Saint John, a masterful rendering in pietre dure of a beautiful painting by Carlo Dolci (1616 –1686), which was in the Riccardi Collection in Florence until 1810 and subsequently went abroad, to a series of different collections reproduced here in fig. 3. (Until a few years ago it belonged to Unicef, having been bequeathed to the organisation by the collector Gustav Rau). It is one of a series of the Four Evangelists executed by Dolci for his confessor in the 1640s, and the many copies made of the series shows how successful it was.
In the same way Dolci’s original painting (which is larger and octagonal in shape) also inspired this commesso picture which was made at a time when the painting was in the Riccardi Collection. In the same period the head of the Grand Ducal Guardaroba, who was also responsible for the Galleria dei Lavori, was marchese Vincenzo Riccardi. The only differences between the painting and the commesso picture, apart from the shape, are that in the commesso picture the halo is omitted and the evangelist is shown wearing rather curious ‘half gloves’.
It might seem unusual that the model for a commesso object made in the Galleria should have been an earlier painting, even though it was a prestigious one, given that, traditionally, the Grand Ducal mosaicists took advantage of original models by artists working in the Medici entourage, which were more readily suited to their purpose. But in the period immediately after the Medici dynasty died out there was a crisis, if not of quality, then at least in the actual operation of the workshops.
Eleven master craftsmen moved to Naples to the court of Charles Bourbon: the number of ordinary craftsmen dropped and those involved in cutting stone for flat commesso objects numbered, in 1747, three masters, three under masters and three apprentices. There were the same number of ‘maestri di bassorilievo’ – masters of bas relief, to which were added one bronze worker, one silversmith and two cabinet makers. There was no painter, or at least no creative artist to prepare original models, a role played for so long by Foggini, director of the Galleria until his death in 1725.
In order to respond promptly to the expectations of the new Grand Duke for pictures (as well as the boxes, tables and trays produced in the early period of Lorraine rule), the Galleria looked to pictures which were already available and at the same time appealed to its illustrious patron. In this way, in 1738, just a year after the accession of Francis Stephen of Lorraine, a picture showing Soldiers on a Coastline, which is today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, was sent to Vienna. This commesso scene is taken from a 17th century painting by the Dutch artist Jacob de Heusch, which at that time was in Florence, but is today in the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Vienna, having been given by Francis Stephen himself (see Die Kunst des Steinschnitts, exhibition catalogue edited by R. Diestelberger, Vienna 2003, cat. no.211. pp. 338-339).
This picture of Saint John, inspired by the Dolci painting was made about ten years later. It is a very successful interpretation, executed with unequalled technical mastery and a practised chromatic knowledge, a figurative subject produced after years of turning out ‘grottesche e fiorami’ – ‘grotesques and floral designs’ which had long been in fashion in the Galleria. Complementing the picture the relief foliage should be seen as one of the last examples of the work of the ‘maestri di bassorilievo’ which until 1752 included Gaetano Torricelli, son of the celebrated virtuoso gem cutter, Giuseppe Antonio. After this, the new director Louis Siries concentrated almost exclusively on the production of two dimensional mosaics, taking on the painter Giuseppe Zocchi in 1749 as a regular collaborator in the making and preparation of original models for pietre dure pictures which were sent to the Emperor at regular intervals over the following years.
The later presence of the Saint John in the collection of the Counts Zichy is probably explained by it having been presented as an imperial gift to a member of this noble Magyar family, which enjoyed close ties with the Austro-Hungarian dynasty.
This plaque shows the figure of St John Evangelist made of pietre dure a commesso within an oval surround of black Belgian marble edged in gilt bronze. The saint is shown seated with the book of the gospel and holding a quill, his robe is green jadeite and his cloak is of red Candia jasper; different shades of Volterra chalcedony have been used to depict the flesh tones and the hair is made up of Sicilian jasper and Egyptian cailloux.
To the right of the figure is the emblem of the saint, the eagle whose plumage is rendered in petrified wood. The oval frame of black Belgian marble has applied stylised bas relief foliage, with chalcedony from the Grigioni in Switzerland, cut into it. The whole thing is set in a fluted square frame, of gilt-bronze with moulded corners.
Documents from the archives enable us to identify this work exactly as ‘il quadro con San Giovanni’ – ‘the picture with St John’, made in the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence which in February 1749 was finished and about to be sent to Vienna.
On 28 February 1749 Louis Siries, who, the previous year had become director of the Galleria dei Lavori, the workshops where the pietre dure works were made, was reimbursed 8 zecchini ‘per dorare l’ornamento del quadro di San Giovanni di pietre dure’ – ‘for the gilding of the ornament for the Saint John of pietre dure’ (ASF, GM Appendice 11, c.95).
The reimbursement to Siries features in another register, which, as well as the gilding of the ‘cornice del quadro di San Giovanni fatto di pietre dure’ – ‘the frame of the picture of St John done in pietre dure’ - also notes the expense ‘per l’adorno di bronzo di una cassetta di pietre dure di bassorilievo, tanto l’una che l’ altro per mandarsi a Vienna a Sua Maestà Imperiale’ – ‘for the bronze ornament for a box with pietre dure bas reliefs, both of which are to be sent to Vienna to his Imperial Majesty’. (ASF, GM Appendice 71, c.620).
On the same day, 28 February, Filippo Panzani, who had been working in the Galleria as ‘argentiere’ – silversmith for at least three years (ASF. G. M. 1404, c.27 v.), presents a bill for several pieces of work, amongst which is the item, ‘per avere saldato ad argento di mio n.4 cantonate centinate d’un legamento di bronzo gettato per un quadro d’un San Giovanni di pietre dure/ Per aver saldato n.12 vite attorno alla parte di dietro di detto ornamento ad argento di mio/ Per aver fato n.10 saldature di perni e tasselli al suddetto ornamento/ per aver saldato l’ovato che sta dentro al suddetto quadro, limato, pulito e rinettato per dorare/ Per avere dorato tutti i suddetti bronzi e annessovi tutti i bronzi che devono servire per l’adorno d’una cassetta di pietre dure’ – ‘for having soldered with silver supplied by myself, four curved corners of a bronze mount cast for a picture of Saint John of pietre dure/for having soldered 12 screws for the back of this ornament using silver supplied by myself/ for having made 10 soldered pins and dowels for the above mentioned object/ for having soldered the oval which is set into this picture, filed down, cleaned and prepared for gilding/ for having gilded all these above-mentioned bronze pieces and fixed onto it all the bronze pieces that make up the mounts of a pietre dure box’. (ASF, G. M. Appendice 71, c.628).
The picture of Saint John was therefore made for Francis Stephen of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737 and as the consort of Maria Teresa, Holy Roman Emperor from 1745. Although he only made one visit to Florence and the territories of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in 1739, he knew and appreciated the craftsmanship that the Medici had made so well known and prized all over Europe. From the early years of his reign he commissioned many things which were then sent on to him in Vienna.
Amongst his commissions was this picture of Saint John, a masterful rendering in pietre dure of a beautiful painting by Carlo Dolci (1616 –1686), which was in the Riccardi Collection in Florence until 1810 and subsequently went abroad, to a series of different collections reproduced here in fig. 3. (Until a few years ago it belonged to Unicef, having been bequeathed to the organisation by the collector Gustav Rau). It is one of a series of the Four Evangelists executed by Dolci for his confessor in the 1640s, and the many copies made of the series shows how successful it was.
In the same way Dolci’s original painting (which is larger and octagonal in shape) also inspired this commesso picture which was made at a time when the painting was in the Riccardi Collection. In the same period the head of the Grand Ducal Guardaroba, who was also responsible for the Galleria dei Lavori, was marchese Vincenzo Riccardi. The only differences between the painting and the commesso picture, apart from the shape, are that in the commesso picture the halo is omitted and the evangelist is shown wearing rather curious ‘half gloves’.
It might seem unusual that the model for a commesso object made in the Galleria should have been an earlier painting, even though it was a prestigious one, given that, traditionally, the Grand Ducal mosaicists took advantage of original models by artists working in the Medici entourage, which were more readily suited to their purpose. But in the period immediately after the Medici dynasty died out there was a crisis, if not of quality, then at least in the actual operation of the workshops.
Eleven master craftsmen moved to Naples to the court of Charles Bourbon: the number of ordinary craftsmen dropped and those involved in cutting stone for flat commesso objects numbered, in 1747, three masters, three under masters and three apprentices. There were the same number of ‘maestri di bassorilievo’ – masters of bas relief, to which were added one bronze worker, one silversmith and two cabinet makers. There was no painter, or at least no creative artist to prepare original models, a role played for so long by Foggini, director of the Galleria until his death in 1725.
In order to respond promptly to the expectations of the new Grand Duke for pictures (as well as the boxes, tables and trays produced in the early period of Lorraine rule), the Galleria looked to pictures which were already available and at the same time appealed to its illustrious patron. In this way, in 1738, just a year after the accession of Francis Stephen of Lorraine, a picture showing Soldiers on a Coastline, which is today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, was sent to Vienna. This commesso scene is taken from a 17th century painting by the Dutch artist Jacob de Heusch, which at that time was in Florence, but is today in the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Vienna, having been given by Francis Stephen himself (see Die Kunst des Steinschnitts, exhibition catalogue edited by R. Diestelberger, Vienna 2003, cat. no.211. pp. 338-339).
This picture of Saint John, inspired by the Dolci painting was made about ten years later. It is a very successful interpretation, executed with unequalled technical mastery and a practised chromatic knowledge, a figurative subject produced after years of turning out ‘grottesche e fiorami’ – ‘grotesques and floral designs’ which had long been in fashion in the Galleria. Complementing the picture the relief foliage should be seen as one of the last examples of the work of the ‘maestri di bassorilievo’ which until 1752 included Gaetano Torricelli, son of the celebrated virtuoso gem cutter, Giuseppe Antonio. After this, the new director Louis Siries concentrated almost exclusively on the production of two dimensional mosaics, taking on the painter Giuseppe Zocchi in 1749 as a regular collaborator in the making and preparation of original models for pietre dure pictures which were sent to the Emperor at regular intervals over the following years.
The later presence of the Saint John in the collection of the Counts Zichy is probably explained by it having been presented as an imperial gift to a member of this noble Magyar family, which enjoyed close ties with the Austro-Hungarian dynasty.
Translated by Emma Bassett
We thank Anna Maria Massinelli for initially assisting in the dating of this work.
Francis Stephen of Lorraine:
Francis I (Francis Stephen 8th December 1708–18th August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real powers of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. From 1728 until 1737, he was Duke of Lorraine. In 1737, Lorraine was governed by France under the terms following the War of the Polish Succession 1733-38. Francis and the House of Lorraine received the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1737. After taking the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, the return of the ancestral duchy of Lorraine went nominally to his brother Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine until succession resulted in Lorraine's annexation to France in 1766. He fathered sixteen children including the deposed and later executed Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France.
Károly II. József Ferenc Xaver Zichy (1753-1826):
He was born on March 4th, 1753 in Bratislava, and was the third child of Istvàn and his wife, Duchess Cecilia Stubenberg. He was one of the most important politicians in his family and was married to Maria Antonia Gräfin Khevenhüller-Metsch (1759-1809). Károly II had several important functions in the Hungarian State. At the age of twenty-two, he became Illyrian ‘Hofkommissionsrat’ at the Viennese Court Chamber. Emperor Joseph II (1780-1790) recognized that he was highly gifted and this is why he appointed him as ‘Obergespan’ of the Comitates Békés in 1782 as well as of Györ in 1783. In 1787, Károly became president of the Hungarian Court Chamber and only one year later, he became Chief Justice Minister, the most important representative of the Hungarian jurisdiction. Károly, who was the most skilful speaker and politician, was a key advisor to Emperor Joseph II. Furthermore, he acted as a mediator between Emperor Joseph II and the Hungarians. In his book ‘Die Ungarn’, Paul Lendvai describes on page 206, Károly’s prominent role regarding the return of the Saint Stephan Crown from the Viennese Treasury, which was obtained by Joseph II. Franz I, King of Hungary, honoured Károly II for his accomplishments with the Saint Stephan Order in 1792. In the following years, he became Chief Secretary and Knight of the Golden Fleece (1808), Minister of War (1809) and Minister of the Interior 1813-14. On September 28th, 1826 Károly II József Ferenc Xaver died of a stroke in Vienna.