Franz Christoph Janneck Carl Wilhelm de Hamilton Graz 1703 - 1761 Vienna Brussels 1668 - 1754 Augsburg

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 is in lovely condition. The copper panel is flat and unreinforced on the reverse. The paint layer is clean and varnished. There is no visible weakness anywhere to the paint layer. No retouches are evident under ultraviolet light, except possibly in some of the darkest colors of the tree trunk. The work should be hung as is.
"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."

The figure of Orpheus at the center of this lovely composition relates to other figure and facial types painted by Franz Christoph Janneck, an Austrian artist who joined the faculty of the Akademie der  bildenden Künste in Vienna in 1740.  Janneck was an accomplished artist in many different genres of painting and often executed works in small scale.  He appears to have collaborated in this instance with Carl Wilhelm de Hamilton, an artist from a family of court painters who specialized in still life and animal scenes along with his brothers Philipp Ferdinand de Hamilton (1664-1750) and Johann Georg de Hamilton (1672-1737).  A notable comparison can be drawn between the present painting and a signed drawing of Orpheus Charming the Animals by Carl Wilhelm in the British Museum (inv. no. 1957, 0911.2), as both portray a centrally situated Orpheus surrounded by a crowd of various and individualized animals.  

We are grateful to Dr. Hana Seifertova for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.