ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-BAPTISTE MARTIN, CALLED MARTIN DES GOBELINSPARIS 1659 - 1735 | Paris: a view of the Pont Neuf with Royal parade

Collection C.A.P. van Stolk (1857-1934), Rotterdam, n°363 (according to two labels on the back of the frame), and thence by descent.

A l’œil nu : Le tableau est en réalité un peu moins jaune que ce que l’illustration du catalogue laisse penser. Le tableau est dans un état de conservation satisfaisant et est prêt à être accroché. Le tableau a fait l’objet d’un rentoilage et est couvert d’un réseau de craquelures assez prononcées et principalement situées dans la zone du ciel. Dans l’illustration du catalogue, ces dernières ne sont pas aussi perceptibles. Quelques points de pression sont également visibles dans la zone du ciel. Diverses lacunes ont été retouchées le long des bords droit et supérieur. Les couleurs et quelques impastos des nombreux personnages semblent avoir été bien préservés. Une retouche est perceptible dans la zone grise au-dessus des bâtiments à droite. La surface peinte est couverte d’une couche de vernis ayant quelque peu jauni. A la lampe U.V. : Le tableau apparaît sous un vernis vert. La couche de vernis fluoresce et montre quelques retouches : dans le coin inférieur gauche, quelques petites reprises dans les personnages et dans le ciel. Finalement, le réseau de craquelures dans le ciel est visible. Vendu avec un cadre en bois peint en noir avec un filet d’or (état de conservation satisfaisant). The actual painting is a bit less yellow than the catalogue illustration would suggest. The painting is in a fairly nice condition and ready to hang. Under the naked eye: The canvas has been relined and is covered with a relatively strong craquelure pattern, mainly concentrated in the sky area, which is not so much visible in the catalogue illustration. Some old pressure points can be seen in the sky area. Retouched areas of paintloss along the right edge and top edge. The colours and some of the impasto of the many figures seem to be nicely preserved. A retouching can be seen in the grey area above the buildings on the right. The painted surface is covered with a somewhat yellowed varnish layer. Under UV light: The varnish layer fluoresces largely showing retouchings in the lower left corner, very few in the figures and a some in the sky area; also the craquelure pattern in the sky is quite visible. Offered with a black painted wooden frame with gold fillet, in fairly good condition.
"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."

The Seine and its Pont Neuf are one of the most spectacular points of view of Paris. Here we see the grand bridge from the Pointe de la Cité, with the Grande Galerie du Louvre on the right and the buildings of the left bank, where the future Collège des Quatre-Nations, current Institut de France, is built. It is loosely based on an engraving by the Florentine artist Stefano della Bella (1610-1664) dated 1646, which depicts a view of the Seine, then with the 16^th Century Hôtel de Nevers and the 13^th Century Tour de Nesle, which had survived from the city walls of Philippe-Auguste, on the left.  Both were demolished later in the 17^th century to make way for the Collège des Quatre-Nations. In the Della Bella engraving there was also on the right bank, the Tour de Bois, a vestige of the walls of Charles V, and the last remains of the medieval castle of the Louvre flanking Henri IV's Grande Galerie du Louvre. Both these older structures were demolished during the same period to make way for expansion of the newer Louvre, which is visible in the present picture. The foreground depicts a royal parade with most probably Louis XIV in his carriage and his entourage as well as a lively scene with figures promenading along the Pont Neuf and salesmen and women selling their ware in stalls. The bridge itself was built during the reign of Henri IV, who inaugurated it in 1607 and whose statue can be seen at the centre.

Della Bella's engraving was famous and numerous paintings based on it by both French and Dutch artists are known including one by Peter Casteels II, in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, one attributed to Pieter Wouwerman¹, and an anonymous Dutch School, mid-17th Century, formerly in the Jacob Elie Safra-collection.² 

The painting's provenance can be traced back to one of the scions of an important Rotterdam merchant family: Cornelis A.P. van Stolk. He was also one the founders of the Nederlandse Handels Hogeschool, predecessor of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam³. 1. Anonymous Sale, London, Christie's, 8 December 1995, lot 361 (as Attributed to Pieter Bout) and nowadays as Pieter Wouwerman (ref. The Hague, RKD; photographic archives, image no. 6526).
2. Anonymous Sale, New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2011, lot 9.
3. See W.A.H. Croll, Een tak van de familie Van Stolk honderd jaar in de graanhandel, 1847-1947, Rotterdam 1947.