Valentin de Boulogne

Commissioned in 1627 by Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597-1679), nephew of Pope Urban VIII;
Recorded in the Barberini inventory, 1633, as in the collection of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, and in the 1649 inventory as again in the collection  of Cardinal Francesco (in the 1738 inventory listed under the name Andrea Camassei);
After the dispersal of the collection in 1812-1816, the painting remained in the family, where it was frequently cited in the 19th century;
Luisa Schwartze (née Corrodi) sale, Rome, Galleria L'Antonia, January 16-23, 1935, lot 475;
Yugoslavian Embassy, Madrid;
Jovan Dučić, Madrid and Indiana by 1939;
By inheritance to his cousin, Mitchell Duchich 1941-1952;
By whom donated to the Reverend Vladimir Mrvchin, San Gabriel, California, until 1979;
With the Collector's Gallery, Tustin, California;
From whom acquired by Michael and Jo Ellen Brunner, Fountain Valley, California;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 9 October 1991, lot 79, where acquired by the present owner.

Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, January-November 1982, France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections, no. 109.

F. Basilius von Ramdohr, Über Malerie und Bildhauerarbeit im Rome, Leipzig 1785, vol. II, p. 285 (as Caravaggio);
H. Voss, Die Malerie des Barock im Rome, Berlin 1924, p. 455 (here and henceforth as Valentin);
G. Isarlo, Caravage et le Caravagisme européen, Aix-en-Provence 1941, vol.II, p. 247;
F. Zeri, Catalogo del Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale I: La Galleria e la collezione Barberini, Rome 1954, p. 7, cat. no. 87, reproduced;
R. Longhi, "A Propos de Valentin," in La Revue des Arts, 1958, p. 61;
J. Thuillier, "Un peintre passioné," in L'Oeil, no. 47, November 1958, p. 28, reproduced;
Das 17. Jahrhundert in der französischen Malerei, exhibition catalogue, Berne 1959, under cat. no. 7;
F. Vivian, "Poussin and Claude seen from the Archivo Barberini," in The Burlington Magazine, December 1969, p. 722, notes 38 and 39;
R. Spear, Caravaggio and his Followers, exhibition catalogue, Cleveland 1971, p. 184, reproduced fig. 44;
R. Spear, Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Sciarra and Fiano Collections, Rome 1972, p. 32;
R. Spear, "Unknown Pictures by the Caravaggisti (with Notes on Caravaggio and His Followers)," in Storia dell' Arte, no. 14, 1972, p. 151, note 21;
A. Bréjon de Lavergnée and J-P. Cuzin, I Caravaggeschi francesi, exhibition catalogue, Rome 1973, pp. 123, 168 and 246;
M. Aronberg-Lavin, Seventeenth-Century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art, New York 1975, p. 42, doc. 343; page 43, doc. 346; page 242, number 676 (III. inv. 49); pp. 529-530 and 575;
J-P. Cuzin, "Problèmes du Caravagisme," in Revue de l'Art, no. 27, 1975, p. 59;
R. Spear, Caravaggio and his Followers, 1975, pp. 205, note 21, and 229, note 71, reproduced p. 184, fig. 4;
C. del Bravo, Verso i Carracci e verso Valentin, Florence 1979, pages 46, 56, note 90, reproduced plate IV;
B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement, Oxford 1979, page 104;
M. Lewis, "A lost painting, an insurance agent, and art history," in The Christian Science Monitor, vol. 26, number 1, 1982;
P. Rosenberg, France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections, exhibition catalogue, Paris 1982, pp. 328-29, cat. no. 109, reproduced p. 58;
B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Turin 1989, vol. I, page 201, reproduced vol. II, plate 709;
M. Mojana, Valentin de Boulogne, Milan 1989, pp. 128-29, cat. no. 38, reproduced;
O. Melasecchi in A. Zuccaro (ed.), I Caravaggeschi, Percorsi e protagonisti, Milan 2010, vol. II, p. 738.

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 has been restored. The restoration is very respectable, and there does not appear to be any reason to necessarily alter it at present. The lining supporting the canvas is applied with a non-wax adhesive. Successive lining has reduced the original texture of the painting. The condition is good in many areas. Under ultraviolet light, one can see retouching that can be considered expected in spots within the figure. There are concentrations in his chest, the lighter areas of his face, and in his knee in the lower center. The darker colors of the background show no concentration of retouches under ultraviolet light. As always with Old Master pictures, one should be aware that the darker colors may have received earlier retouches that are not clearly visible under ultraviolet light. However, even under fairly close scrutiny, it does appear that the condition of the darker colors here is good. There is also one significant damage that begins in David's forearm and extends toward the lower left corner, reaching the bottom edge about 7 inches from the lower left corner. This restored diagonal damage measures 2 inches wide in some areas. There is also retouching in the forearm beneath this tear or break in the canvas. Aside from the diagonal damage, the picture is very presentable and makes a very strong impression. However, the paint layer lacks patina and warmth, the varnish is quite glaring, and some finesse, particularly to the figure, is lost. If the finish were addressed, the work would look more attractive. The frame could perhaps be reconsidered.
"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 powerful depiction of the victorious young David was painted in circa 1627 for Cardinal Francesco Barberini, who paid 15 scudi for the work. It has not been offered at auction since 1991. Its presumed pendant, also painted for the Barberini family, is the Sampson which today hangs in the Cleveland Museum of Art.¹ Both paintings were previously extended along the lower edge and the present work was inscribed with the number '90', in the characteristic nineteenth-century Barberini inventory brush (see Mojana, under Literature, for an image of the canvas with extensions).

Around the same period Valentin completed his monumental Allegory of Italy, which was also commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini.² Mojana (see Literature) specifically compares the careful delineation of the physiognomy of the present David and the half-open hand with the Portrait of Raffaello Menicucci in the Indianapolis Museum of Art.³ A very similar severed head can be found in the Judith with the Head of Holofernes, in the Augustinian Museum in Toulouse.⁴

1. Mojana, pp. 166-67, cat. no. 56, reproduced.
2. Ibid., pp. 150-51, cat. no. 49, reproduced.
3. Ibid., pp. 126-27, cat. no. 37, reproduced.
4. Ibid., pp. 164-65, cat. no. 55, reproduced.