GIACOMO BERGER | PORTRAIT OF A LADY, PROBABLY ELIZABETH REGIS, BUST LENGTH

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Lot Closed

October 30, 04:34 PM GMT

Estimate

2,000 - 3,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE

GIACOMO BERGER

Chambéry 1754 - 1822 Naples

PORTRAIT OF A LADY, PROBABLY ELIZABETH REGIS, BUST LENGTH

oil on panel, in a painted oval

inscribed on the reverse probably by the patron of the painting: Elizabeth Regis / Nata La..... Chiana / li Cinque Maggio 1769 / Da me sposata li 29 Novembre / 1791 / Ritratto fatto le / Dal Sig. Bergier Pittore / Romano / In C.... Laugier l'anno 1800 / Morta li 26 Marzo 18.. / Attesto di Conjugal / Tenerezze e Venerazione / nell' afflitto smarrito / Signor Regis / … 1805

panel: 9½ by 7⅞ in.; 24.1 by 20 cm.

framed: 16 by 13⅝ in.; 40.6 by 34.6 cm.

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 15 March 1985, lot 82 (as Portrait of Elizabet Regis);

With Richard Feigen, New York;

From whom acquired by The First National Bank of Chicago in 1989;

From whom acquired by the present owner in 2004.

Giacomo Berger was born in Chambéry in 1754, but spent most of his life in Italy. From 1779 to 1782, he studied in the Albertina Academy in Turin under Laurent Pécheux. When he traveled to Rome, he studied with Domenico Corvi whose Neoclassical style would influence Berger's work. Berger's reputation was secured in Rome after his first major exhibition at the Villa Medici in 1786, where he captured the attention of the prominent collector Lord Bristol. In the early 1800s, Berger settled in Naples where he would remain until his death in 1822. During his time in Naples, Berger became the director of the Academy of Fine Art and was commissioned by Charles Felix of Sardinia and his wife Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily to paint their portraits.