Master Paintings Part I

Master Paintings Part I

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 106. Portrait of a young man with a quill and a sheet of paper, possibly a self-portrait of the artist.

Property Restituted to the Heirs of Ilse Hesselberger, sold to benefit New York charities

Agnolo di Cosimo, called Bronzino

Portrait of a young man with a quill and a sheet of paper, possibly a self-portrait of the artist

Auction Closed

January 26, 05:50 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000,000 - 5,000,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property Restituted to the Heirs of Ilse Hesselberger, sold to benefit New York charities

Agnolo di Cosimo, called Bronzino

Monticelli, near Florence 1503 - 1572 Florence

Portrait of a young man with a quill and a sheet of paper, possibly a self-portrait of the artist

inscribed on the reverse of the panel:  Picus de Mirandula / Phoenix Mundiinscribed on the sheet of paper:  Cogitat ut scribat, verum ut non scribat imago / Sponte sua scribit, sed neque sponte id agit / Ergo invita facit minimè nam scribere tantum / Destinat, ulterius, scribere, ne sit opus  

oil on panel

30½ by 21⅝ in.; 77.5 by 54.9 cm.

Please note this painting is displayed in a 17th century carved and gilded Carlo Maratta frame. The frame is on loan to us from Diego Salazar Antique Frames and is available for purchase. Please enquire with the department for further information.

Sir William Temple, MP (1628-1699), Moor Park, Surrey;

Thence by descent to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Temple (neé Temple)(1686-1770), Moor Park, Surrey;

Thence by descent to her nephew, Basil Bacon (1725-1775), Moor Park, Surrey;

Thence by descent to his heir and illegitimate son by Mary Margaret Williams (née Deveil), Charles Bacon (né Williams) (1751-1820);

Thence by descent to his second son, Kenrick Bacon (1801-1888), Moor Park, Surrey;

By whom sold ("Pictures formerly collected by Sir William Temple, and brought from the Family Seat, in Surrey"), London, Christie's, 30 March 1824, lot 64, for £95.11 (as Bronzino, "A very fine head and capital Portrait of Pico di Mirandola");

There acquired by Henry Seymour, JP, MP (1776-1849), Knoyle House, Wiltshire;

Thence by descent to Henry Danby Seymour (1820-1877), MP, 39 Upper Grosvenor Street and 209 Piccadilly, London, and Knoyle House, Wiltshire;

Thence by inheritance to his brother, Alfred Seymour, JP, MP (1824-1888), 47 Eaton Square, London and Knoyle House, Wiltshire;

Thence by inheritance to his wife, Isabella Seymour (née Leighton) (1834-1911), 6 Upper Brooke Street, London and Knoyle House, Wiltshire;

Thence by inheritance to their daughter, Jane Margaret Seymour (1873-1943), by 1911;

By whose trustees sold, London, Christie's, 23 January 1920, lot 78, for £157 (as Bronzino, "Portrait of Pico de Mirandola");

Where acquired by Hugh Blaker for £157 (according to Christie's ledger in the Frick);

Dr August Mayer, Schleissheim, by 1927;

From whom acquired by Julius Böhler, Munich, 4 July 1927, for M 5.000 (as Francesco Salviati);

From whom acquired by Frau Kommerzienrat Ilse Hesselberger (née Wertheim) (1888-1941), Munich, 5 October 1927, for M 14.000 (as Francesco Salviati);

From whom acquired by [Ludwig] Bretschneider, Munich, as a consequence of persecution, 1937/1938;

With Kunsthandlung Maria Gillhausen, Munich;

With Kunsthandlung Karl Seuffer, Munich;

From whom acquired by Reichskanzlei through Frau. Professor Gerdy Troost (1904-2003), 28 January 1941, for RM 55,000;

Führermuseum, Linz (inv. no. 1400, as Jacopino del Conte);

Kremsmünster Depot (inv. no. 1468);

Transferred to the Salt Mines at Alt Ausee (inv. no. 2795);

Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point (inv. no. 4058, in a blue and gold Renaissance style frame);

Transferred to the office of the Ministerpräsident, Wiesbaden, 10 August 1951, and thereafter the Deutsche Parlamentarische Gesellschaft;

Restituted to the estate of Gertrude (‘Trudy’) Sommer (daughter of Ilse Hesselberger), New York, 2021.