Circle of Francisco de Zurbarán

Anonymous sale, Vienna, Dorotheum, 21 April 2015, lot 238 (as Attributed to Antonio Tempesta);

Where acquired by Stanley Moss.

Executed on a monumental scale, this impressive equestrian portrait of the Roman emperor Galba derives from a celebrated series of engravings depicting the Twelve Caesars on horseback, designed and engraved by Antonio Tempesta.¹

During the seventeenth century, Francisco de Zurbarán, his workshop, and his wider circle produced numerous large-scale canvases inspired by such engraved models to satisfy a growing taste for imperial and martial imagery in both Spain and the Spanish colonies of the Americas. Documentary evidence records that, on 23 September 1647, Zurbarán sold a series of twelve monumental canvases representing Roman emperors on horseback for export to Lima, Peru, underscoring the popularity of such subjects in the colonial market.² Although that Peruvian series remains untraced, a small group of related equestrian Caesars attributed to Zurbarán’s workshop and circle survive today.³ The present painting, with its stately mounted figure, richly ornamented tack, and theatrical grandeur, reflects the enduring appeal of these compositions and the important role of prints by Tempesta and other artists in the dissemination of imperial iconography throughout the Spanish world.

¹ Antonio Tempesta, Plate 7: Emperor Galba on Horseback, from "The First Twelve Roman Caesars," 1596, etching. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 51.501.3480.

² C. Lopez Martinez, Desde Martinez Montanes hasta Pedro Roldan, Sevilla 1932, pp. 224-225; According to the document, each canvas measured about 215 cm. in height, comparable to the present work.

³ For the other known examples, see O. Delenda, Zurbarán Los Conjuntos y el Obrador, vol.II, Madrid 2010, pp. 224-225.