Justus Suttermans

Lord Ormathwaite, Eywood, North Wales;
Sale on the premises, May 18895 (as Domenichino);
There acquired by G.W.M. (accorkding to an inscription on the reverse of the canvas before it was relined);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 10 July 1992, lot 301 (as Circle of Domenichino);
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 24 January 2008, lot 48;
There acquired by the present owner.

London, Matthiesen Gallery, Fifty Paintings 1535-1825, 1993, no. 15.

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 work should be hung in its current condition. The canvas has an old lining. The horizontal cracking is very slightly raised. The work is clearly in very good condition. There are hardly any retouches in the face, except in the beard beneath the mouth. There are a few retouches on the left side of the collar. The right side of the background and coat are almost all completely unretouched. On the left side of the background and coat, there seem to be vertical lines retouching addressing the effects of some moisture dripping on the surface of the work at some point. These vertical lines are very isolated and do not compromise the noticeably good condition throughout the remainder of the picture.
"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."

According to the artist’s biographer and contemporary, Filippo Baldinucci, the young Suttermans (or Sustermans) was taken on as an apprentice at a young age by Willem de Vos in Antwerp.  After some travels to see the work of other painters, Suttermans settled in Paris for three and a half years, two of which he spent studying with Frans Pourbus.  He remained there until he left for Italy in the company of a group of tapestry weavers who had been summoned to Florence by Cosimo II, hoping from there to continue to Rome in order to further his artistic study.  However, he quickly found work in Florence and remained there, with some brief sojourns abroad, for a period of some forty years, becoming court painter to the Medici and one of the most esteemed portraitists in Italy.

This portrait exemplifies the elegant and insightful style that had won Suttermans an international reputation. The sitter is soberly dressed against a dark background, and the head is exquisitely modeled; the artist's Flemish origins are evident in the lively brushwork and rich coloration of the sitter's head.  Such sensitive and perceptive portraiture was not unprecedented in Florence, and it seems that the artist must have been aware of the work of an earlier generation of painters, particularly that of Cristofano Allori.  Portraits by Allori, such as his depiction of Bernardo Davanzati Bostichi (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), exhibit the same intense focus on personality, and the same meticulous attention to the flesh and texture of hair.

The simplicity of this portrait is comparable to that of one of the artist's most famous images, his Portrait of Galileo Galilei of 1636 (Uffizi, Florence).  As in the present painting, the renowned scientist is shown in a simple black costume with while collar against a dark background, gazing directly at the viewer.  The Portrait of a Bearded Gentleman would appear to anticipate the Galileo by a few years, and stylistically appears to be closer to canvases such as the Pandolfo Ricasoli (Pitti, Florence) which has been dated to circa 1630.

The attribution to Suttermans was first suggested by Anne Sutherland Harris, and confirmed by Marco Chiarini.