AFTER GIOVANNI BATTISTA PAGGI | Venus and Cupid

oil on oak panel, with two unidentified red wax seals on the reverse This painting is a copy after the Genoese artist Giovanni Battista Paggi's composition painted in the first decades of the 17th century, which exists in a number of versions, including one last recorded in the ownership of J.H. Weitzner, New York.1 The work was also engraved by Cornelis Galle I.2 A follower of Luca Cambiaso, Paggi was born into a noble family in Genoa, but was banished from the city in 1581 when he mortally wounded a patron who failed to remunerate him. He was given protection by Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and settled in Florence, and was eventually allowed to return to his native town in 1599. There he set up a studio in his own house, making use of his extensive collection and library to train Genoese Baroque artists including Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. 1 http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda.v2.jsp?locale=it&decorator=layout_resp&apply=true&tipo_scheda=OA&id=47428&titolo=Paggi+Giovanni+Battista%2C+Venere+e+Cupido2 http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3220378&partId=1&searchText=paggi&page=1

All paintings available to view at the Sotheby’s Greenford Park warehouse, 5 - 7 and 10 – 13 September (10 - 4pm), by appointment. The panel is uncradled, flat and stable. The paint surface is quite dirty and the varnish is uneven and discoloured. There are visible retouchings in Venus' breast, her red cloak, to a horizontal surface scratch in her neck, measuring 3cm., and in Cupid's forehead. There is a spot of paint loss with associated retouching, lower centre, approx. 0.5cm., as a result of tenting, which is visible throughout, most notably in Venus' red cloak, though the rest of the paint surface appears stable. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals a thick varnish, underneath which the aforementioned retouchings are visible.
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