Marcantonio Franceschini
(Bologna 1648–1729)
Narcissus,
oil on canvas, 77.5 x 108 cm, framed
On the reverse of the original canvas: inscribed ‘Sign Ferdo: Leopo:’ and the remains of a label referring to the Liechtenstein collection.
Provenance:
possibly commissioned by Prince Johann Adam Andreas von Liechtenstein (1657–1712) for the Garden Palace, Vienna;
Liechtenstein collection, Vienna;
sold 11 June 1920 to Glückselig, Vienna;
sale, Piguet, Genève, 13 December 2017, lot 1007 (as attributed to Marcantonio Franceschini)
Literature:
V. Fanti, Descrizzione completa di tutto ciò che ritrovasi nella galleria di pittura e scultura di sua altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao del S.R.I. principe regnante della casa di Lichtenstein…, Vienna 1767, p. 52, no. 295;
V. Fanti, Description des tableaux et des piéces de sculpture, que renferme la gallerie de son altesse François Joseph chef et prince regnant de la maison de Liechtenstein etc. etc., Vienna 1780, p. 87, no. 247;
J. v. Falke, Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bildergallerie im Gartenpalais der Rossau zu Wien, Vienna 1873, p. 72, no. 617;
D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini and the Liechtensteins, Prince Johann Adam Andreas and the Decoration of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace at Rossau-Vienna, Cambridge 1991, p. 55 and p. 107, no. 43 (as untraced);
D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini, Turin 2001, p. 272, no. 165.43 (as untraced)
We are grateful to Daniele Benati for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph.
The present painting once belonged to the Liechtenstein princes and is documented in several of their catalogues since 1767 (see literature). In the catalogue of 1780 it is poetically described: ‘Franceschini. Narcisse se mirant dans les eaux. Il est assis sur les bords d’une eau claire et tranquille, le corps nu, à la reserve d’une draperie bleue, qui lui passe sur les reins, et le couvre en partie. Il tient le corps penché vers l’eau, ou il se mire, en marquant la surprise, qu’excite en lui son image réfléchie, qu’il prend pour celle d’une Nimphe, dont il devient amoureux. Deux petits Amours au fecond plan attentifs à cette action paroissent s’amuser de son illusion, et de son erreur. Ce tableau est d’une composition simple et gracieuse, et d’un coloris agréable.’
The present work was sold by the Liechtensteins in 1920 and the composition was only known from an engraving by A. Geiger, and a small replica on canvas (20 x 30 cm) that is conserved in Burghley House, Stamford. The latter work in the English collection was catalogued as by Carlo Maratta until it was restored, with due caution, to Franceschini by Miller (see Miller 2001 in literature). A copy of the present painting is conserved in Valtice Castle, Czech Republic, once property of the Princes of Liechtenstein.
The painting depicts the myth of Narcissus at the moment when he admires his own reflection in water; he is observed by two putti. As Ovid recounts in the Metamorphosis, the handsome youth, who was the son of Liriope and the river god Cephissus, was by divine punishment condemned to fall in love with his reflection and eventually drowned tormented by the love for his own reflection.
The present painting was most probably commissioned by Johann Adam Andreas, prince of Liechtenstein (1657-1712), the most active patron and collector of art from the Austrian House. Indeed, between 1691 and 1709, Franceschini was engaged in the execution of decorations for five rooms of the prince’s Garden Palace at Rossau near Vienna, and the present painting might have been a part of this cycle. The artist was also frequently engaged as a consultant to the prince for the acquisition of paintings in Bologna. The prince’s taste for collecting emerges strongly in the surviving rich correspondence between the two men, which has been the subject of study by Dwight Miller (see D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini and the Liechtensteins, Prince Johann Adam Andreas and the Decoration of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace at Rossau-Vienna, Cambridge 1991).
Since the painting under discussion here is not mentioned in any of the known letters between Franceschini and prince Johann, in the event that it was indeed commissioned by prince Johann, it should date, as Miller has suggested (see Miller 1991 in literature), to the period between 1695 and 1698 for which the correspondence is lost. Alternatively, it has been proposed that the painting might equally have been purchased subsequently, by another member of the Liechtenstein family, since the work is only documented in the Viennese collection from 1767 (see literature).
The great decorative enterprise in Vienna represented an important creative achievement in Marcantonio Franceschini’s career. It is not known how the painter came into contact with prince Johann, but it is likely, as Miller has suggested, that it was his master Carlo Cignani who first recommended him to the prince. Indeed, Cignani benefitted from international renown and was one of Johann’s favourite Italian artists. Moreover, he might even have forgone the ambitious Viennese project in favour of his student Franceschini, who by the early 1690s was an established and independent artist given the intensity of his activity, participating on large scale projects in Emilia during the previous decade.
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(Bologna 1648–1729)
Narcissus,
oil on canvas, 77.5 x 108 cm, framed
On the reverse of the original canvas: inscribed ‘Sign Ferdo: Leopo:’ and the remains of a label referring to the Liechtenstein collection.
Provenance:
possibly commissioned by Prince Johann Adam Andreas von Liechtenstein (1657–1712) for the Garden Palace, Vienna;
Liechtenstein collection, Vienna;
sold 11 June 1920 to Glückselig, Vienna;
sale, Piguet, Genève, 13 December 2017, lot 1007 (as attributed to Marcantonio Franceschini)
Literature:
V. Fanti, Descrizzione completa di tutto ciò che ritrovasi nella galleria di pittura e scultura di sua altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao del S.R.I. principe regnante della casa di Lichtenstein…, Vienna 1767, p. 52, no. 295;
V. Fanti, Description des tableaux et des piéces de sculpture, que renferme la gallerie de son altesse François Joseph chef et prince regnant de la maison de Liechtenstein etc. etc., Vienna 1780, p. 87, no. 247;
J. v. Falke, Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bildergallerie im Gartenpalais der Rossau zu Wien, Vienna 1873, p. 72, no. 617;
D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini and the Liechtensteins, Prince Johann Adam Andreas and the Decoration of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace at Rossau-Vienna, Cambridge 1991, p. 55 and p. 107, no. 43 (as untraced);
D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini, Turin 2001, p. 272, no. 165.43 (as untraced)
We are grateful to Daniele Benati for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph.
The present painting once belonged to the Liechtenstein princes and is documented in several of their catalogues since 1767 (see literature). In the catalogue of 1780 it is poetically described: ‘Franceschini. Narcisse se mirant dans les eaux. Il est assis sur les bords d’une eau claire et tranquille, le corps nu, à la reserve d’une draperie bleue, qui lui passe sur les reins, et le couvre en partie. Il tient le corps penché vers l’eau, ou il se mire, en marquant la surprise, qu’excite en lui son image réfléchie, qu’il prend pour celle d’une Nimphe, dont il devient amoureux. Deux petits Amours au fecond plan attentifs à cette action paroissent s’amuser de son illusion, et de son erreur. Ce tableau est d’une composition simple et gracieuse, et d’un coloris agréable.’
The present work was sold by the Liechtensteins in 1920 and the composition was only known from an engraving by A. Geiger, and a small replica on canvas (20 x 30 cm) that is conserved in Burghley House, Stamford. The latter work in the English collection was catalogued as by Carlo Maratta until it was restored, with due caution, to Franceschini by Miller (see Miller 2001 in literature). A copy of the present painting is conserved in Valtice Castle, Czech Republic, once property of the Princes of Liechtenstein.
The painting depicts the myth of Narcissus at the moment when he admires his own reflection in water; he is observed by two putti. As Ovid recounts in the Metamorphosis, the handsome youth, who was the son of Liriope and the river god Cephissus, was by divine punishment condemned to fall in love with his reflection and eventually drowned tormented by the love for his own reflection.
The present painting was most probably commissioned by Johann Adam Andreas, prince of Liechtenstein (1657-1712), the most active patron and collector of art from the Austrian House. Indeed, between 1691 and 1709, Franceschini was engaged in the execution of decorations for five rooms of the prince’s Garden Palace at Rossau near Vienna, and the present painting might have been a part of this cycle. The artist was also frequently engaged as a consultant to the prince for the acquisition of paintings in Bologna. The prince’s taste for collecting emerges strongly in the surviving rich correspondence between the two men, which has been the subject of study by Dwight Miller (see D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini and the Liechtensteins, Prince Johann Adam Andreas and the Decoration of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace at Rossau-Vienna, Cambridge 1991).
Since the painting under discussion here is not mentioned in any of the known letters between Franceschini and prince Johann, in the event that it was indeed commissioned by prince Johann, it should date, as Miller has suggested (see Miller 1991 in literature), to the period between 1695 and 1698 for which the correspondence is lost. Alternatively, it has been proposed that the painting might equally have been purchased subsequently, by another member of the Liechtenstein family, since the work is only documented in the Viennese collection from 1767 (see literature).
The great decorative enterprise in Vienna represented an important creative achievement in Marcantonio Franceschini’s career. It is not known how the painter came into contact with prince Johann, but it is likely, as Miller has suggested, that it was his master Carlo Cignani who first recommended him to the prince. Indeed, Cignani benefitted from international renown and was one of Johann’s favourite Italian artists. Moreover, he might even have forgone the ambitious Viennese project in favour of his student Franceschini, who by the early 1690s was an established and independent artist given the intensity of his activity, participating on large scale projects in Emilia during the previous decade.
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