vinatge royal prints

introductionIn 1965 The Royal Household commissioned Waterlow & Sons with the task of publishing the collection under the supervision of Dr. Bernhard Baer. Oliver Miller CVO, FSA, Deputy Surveyor of the Queen’s pictures at the time added details of the printing methods used to the notes accompanying each illustration.

Only now are these limited edition prints - a total 86 images, 44 paintings and 42 drawings - available to own. Each has been magnificently reproduced in the traditional lithographic printing process, with kind consent from The Queen’s Collection.

This collection of Italian Renaissance drawings in this catalogue are printed limited edition reproductions of works of art in The Queen’s Collection.

The collection has been Influenced by previous British Kings and Queens over the last 500 years or so. They demonstrate the creativity of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Bernini and many more artists of the Renaissance era.

5

Paintings Image number Artist1 Duccio di Buoninsegna

2 Bernardo Daddi

3 School of Jacopo di Cione

4 Gentile da Fabriano

5 Attributed to Fra Angelico

6 Fra Angelico

7 Benozzo Gozzoli

8 Giovanni Bellini

9 Cima da Conegliano

10 Lorenzo Costa

11 Giorgione

12 Antonio Correggio

13 Titian

14 Lorenzo Lotto

15 Giulio Romano

16 Jacopo Bassano

17 Veronese

18 Annibale Carracci

19 Artemisia Gentileschi

20 Guido Reni

21 Guercino

22 Luca Giordano

23 Sebastiano Ricci

24 Marco Ricci

25 Canaletto

26 Canaletto

27 Canaletto

28 Canaletto

29 Pietro Longhi

30 Francesco Zuccarelli

31 Pompeo Batoni

32 Johann Zoffany

33 Raphael

34 Raphael

35 Raphael

36 Raphael

36 Raphael

37 Raphael

38 Raphael

39 Raphael

40 Raphael

41 Raphael

42 Raphael

43 Raphael

44 Raphael

6

No. 1

Duccio di Buoninsegna

Triptych: the Crucifixion and other scenes.c.1302-08. Print size: 9.4” x 6.8”

Museum size: 16” x 14”

Mount size: 16” x 14”

Tempera on panel. This is an exceptionally fine example of a small domestic devotional work, depicting the Crucifixion; the Annunciation with the Virgin and Child enthroned; and St Francis receiving the Stigmata with the Virgin and Child enthroned. The careful balanced and sophisticated approach suggests that Duccio himself planned the painting, although he may have shared it’s execution with an assistant from his workshop. It was reframed by the Prince and placed in his Dressing and Writing Room at Osbourne House.

No. 3

School of Jacopo di Cione

The Marriage of the Virgin Triptych. c.1370. Print size: 7.3” x 9.5”



Oil on panels depicting the Coronation of the Virgin with saints; the Annunciation; the Nativity; and the Crucifixion. Once ascribed to Taddeo Gaddi, this beautiful triptych is now believed to have been created by an unknown painter of the Cionesque School, working closely with Niccolo di Tommasco, who himself collaborated with Jacopo and Nardo di Cione.

No. 2

Bernardo Daddi

The Marriage of the Virgin. c.1339-42.

Print size: 8.9” x 7.7”



Oil on panel, part of a predella, the lowest row of panels, originally for Florence Cathedral but later moved to form a section of the high altarpiece for the church of San Pancrazio, Florence. It is not known how this single panel became separated from the original polytriptych that is preserved in the Uffizi in Florence. The Prince placed it in his Dressing and Writing Room at Osborne House.

No. 4

Gentile da Fabriano

Madonna and Child with Angels (The Quaratesi Madonna). c.1430. Print size: 4.8” x 10.5”



Painted for the Quaratesi family in May 1425, this oil panel once formed the centre piece for the predella of the church of San Niccolo sopr’ Arno near the Porta S. Miniato in Florence. It was placed in the Page’s Waiting Room at Osbourne House.

No. 5

Fra Angelico

Christ Blessing. c.1423.




Tempera on panel, attributed to the workshop of Fra Angelico. Originally this panel may have represented the pinnacle to a dismembered altarpiece, possibly that of Fra Angelico’s polyptych painted for the Church of San Domenico in Fiesole, which is now in the National Gallery Collection.

7

Paintings

No. 6

Fra Angelico

St. Peter Marytr.c.1430-50.




Oil on panel. An early Renaissance work which formed part of a large altarpiece in the San Marco series of paintings, completed in 1440.

No. 8

Giovanni Bellini

Portrait of a Young Man.c.1505.




Oil on panel. Signed below on a label, this painting is one of the last surviving portraits executed by Bellini. Although unidentified, the apparel worn by the sitter is typical of a Venetian cittadino and may possibly be the Venetian writer and humanist Pietro Bembo (1470-1547).

No. 7

Benozzo Gozzoli

The Fall of Simon Magus.c.1462.




The legend goes that Simon, a sorcerer, intending to prove his divine powers and ascend to Heaven, threw himself from a tower in front of Emperor Nero. St Peter then ordered the demons supporting him to let him fall and we witness his dead body lying prone in the centre of the foreground. Once attached as part of the predella painted for the Compagnia di San Marco, affiliated to San Marco in Florence, Gozzoli was contracted to paint this oil on poplar panel on October 23rd 1461 when his reputation was at its height. The altarpiece itself was dismembered in 1802 and its various parts dispersed.

No. 9

Cima da Conegliano

Altarpiece and the Annunciation.c.1500-1510.




The bottom left panel depicts St George and the Dragon, bottom right panel St Theodore or St Liberale and the top two panels represent the Annunciation. During the 1490s Cima became the leading painter of altarpieces in Venice. Characteristic of a late work by the artist, these oils on panel form the centre part of a larger work.

No. 10

Lorenzo Costa

A Lady with a Lap-Dog. c.1500-1505.




Oil on poplar panel. The style of costume and head band is typical of the costume of Northern Italy 1490-1505. Although the sitter remains unidentified there is speculation that she may be a member of the Bolognese or Mantuan Court. The left edge of the panel is bevelled at the back, an indication that suggests it may once have been hinged to form the right wing of a diptych, possibly celebrating a marriage. Were this to be the case, the lap dog would symbolise fidelity.

8

No. 11

Giorgione

A Shepherd with a Pipe. c.1510-15.




Oil on canvas. Now attributed to Titian, this haunting pastoral theme is reminiscent of Giorgione with whom Titian was apprenticed. However the execution of the painting gives rise to the thought that it may have been painted by Titian based on a lost original conceived by Giorgione. Never the less, some scholars continue to attribute ‘The Shepherd’ to Giorgione.

No. 13

Titian

Portrait of a Man. 1518 (c.1514-18).




Oil on canvas. Dated variously as from 1511 to early 1520s, the vestments and hairstyle worn by the sitter would indicate a date closer to 1513. Although the sitter is unknown, the pose with his finger marking a page in the book, suggests a writer or humanist the most likely of whom being the Neapolitan poet Jacopo Sannazaro (1458-1530) and is listed as such in The Queen’s Collection.

No. 12

Antonio Correggio

The Holy Family with St. Jerome. c.1519.




This early altarpiece was probably executed shortly after Correggio settled in Parma. This painting and ‘St. Catherine Reading’ are all that remain of the eight Correggio’s once owned by Charles I.

No. 14

Lorenzo Lotto

Andrea Odoni. 1527 (signed and dated).




Oil on canvas. Portrait of the Humanist and antique dealer Andrea Odoni surrounded by his collection of antiques, coins and a book. His outstretched hand holds a small statuette, possibly Egyptian. In Venice, where this portrait was executed in 1527 in addition to being Lotto’s birthplace, there was widespread interest among the Humanists in Egyptian hieroglyphics as a source of arcane knowledge and divine wisdom.

No. 15

Giulio Romano

Isabella d’Este. c.1531.




Oil on panel. This portrait is traditionally identified as Isabella d’Este (1474-1539), wife of Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga. However, documentary evidence and contemporary descriptions suggest that the sitter may be Margherita Paleologo (1510-66) who married Isabella’s son, Frederico Gonzaga, the first Duke of Mantua, in 1531. Isabella herself was one of the foremost patrons of the arts in Renaissance Italy.

9

Paintings

No. 16

Jacopo Bassano

The Adoration of the Shepherds. c.1531.




Oil on canvas. Dating from around 1544-45, Bassano established himself as a major artist of the Venetian School producing a number of large-scale paintings. The composition of this painting includes a ruined temple frequently seen in Renaissance art, which depicts the birth of Christ. It represents a symbol of the Old Dispensation (Judaism) having been superseded by the New Dispensation (Christianity).

No. 18

Annibale Carracci

The Madonna and Sleeping Child with the infant St. John (il Silenzio). c.1599-1600.




Oil on canvas. A much copied small devotional work, engraved by Bartolozzi while it hung in Buckingham Palace in 1768. A copy of note is that attributed to Domenichino (Louvre), painted c1605 shortly after the original.

No. 17

Veronese

David and Goliath. c.1546.




This oil on panel was acquired as by Schiavone and has been repeatedly attributed to him, but there is little doubt that this is an early work by Veronese. We see David kneeling victorious over the dead Goliath with the Philistines fleeing in the background.

No. 19

Artemisia Gentileschi

Self-portrait as Pittura. c.1638-9.




Oil on canvas. Painted as a self-portrait in accordance with the description of the personification of ‘Painting’ given in the Iconologia of Cesare Ripa (1611): A beautiful woman with full black hair, gold chain and iridescent clothing. It is probable that Artemisia produced this work during her stay in London from 1638 - 41.

No. 20

Guido Reni

Cleopatra with Asp. c.1628.




Oil on canvas, the painting was hung in the Prince’s Closet at Leicester House. Executed in the late 1620s, Reni is known to have painted at least three other versions. According to Reni’s biographer Carlo Cesare Malvascia, Cleopatra was commissioned by his friend Palma Giovane (d.1628) for Boselli, a Venetian merchant, to be judged in competition with companion pictures by Giovane, Renieri and Guercino. Although Reni did not win the competition, Renieri purchased the painting following Boselli’s death.

10

No. 21

Guercino

The Libyan Sibyl.c.1651.




Oil on canvas. A late work by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (the Squinter). One of two half-length Sibyls painted for Ippolito Cattani and paid for on the 4th December 1651. One of the twelve Sibyls alleged to have prophesied the coming of Christ to the Gentiles, this painting depicts the Libyan Sibyl identified by the inscription on the book. The pendant, or companion to this painting is the Samian Sibyl (private collection) and a workshop replica can be seen lying in the foreground of Johan Zoffany’s ‘Tribuna of the Uffizi’ in image No: 32.

No. 23

Sebastiano Ricci

The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth, Saint John the Baptist and an Angel. c.1710.




Joseph Smith was the British Consul in Venice during this period. The painting was hung in the Music Room at Kew.

No. 22

Luca Giordano

Psyche Honoured by the People. c.1695-7.




The first of a set of twelve surviving paintings on copper which illustrate the story of Cupid and Psyche, a tale of ill matched lovers, one mortal one divine, as recounted at considerable length by Apuleius in The Golden Ass (Books 4-6). Possibly commissioned by Carlos II of Spain or his mother, these late works date from 1692-1702 during which time Giordano spent at the Court of Charles II. Acquired by George III, they are recorded in the Bedchamber at Buckingham Palace (1792), but they are also mentioned in the archives of his father’s collection.

No. 24

Marco Ricci

The Courtyard of a Country House. c.1728.




Marco Ricci succeeded his father and Canaletto as stage designer at the famed Venetian Theatre of Sant’Angelo. The arrangement and lighting of Ricci’s designs are surprisingly similar to Canaletto’s vedute, (large scale cityscapes or other vista). The Courtyard of a Country House is one of a set of thirty-two drawings in tempera by Marco Ricci. The inscription on the back suggests that some (at least) of the set were painted for the Consul’s wife.

No. 25

Canaletto

The Bacino di S. Marco on Ascension Day. c.1734.




This oil on canvas, paired with ‘Regatta on the Grand Canal’ (see No 26), is part of a series of 14 views on the Grand Canal. The scene depicts a traditional Venetian ceremony showing the Doge and his suite on the ceremonial vessel, the Bucintoro, after its return to the Molo from the ceremonial Wedding of the Sea on Ascension Day. Formerly in the collection of Consul John Smith, the series was engraved by Antonio Visconti and published in 1735.

11

Paintings

No. 26

Canaletto

A Regatta on the Grand Canal. c.1733-34.




The companion piece to The Bacino di Marco (see No 25), this scene celebrates the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin held on 2nd February. The painting shows the race of light-oared gondolas during this annual regatta with the arms of Carlo Ruzzini, who was Doge from June 1732 - January 1735, on the extreme left. Engraved by Antonio Visconti with its companion piece as the last two plates in his Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum (Venice) published in 1735, gives credence to the date of completion as 1733-1734.

No. 28

Canaletto

The Thames from Somerset House.c.1746-50.




A detail taken from one of a pair of London views painted c.1746-50 while Canaletto was in London. Both views are taken from the terrace of Somerset House; in this detail we look down the river towards the City to St. Paul’s Cathedral, completed in 1709, and Wren’s forest of new spires. In the pendant to this painting we look in the opposite direction towards Whitehall and Westminster Abbey. The pair were the last paintings and only English views acquired by his friend and patron Consul Joseph Smith.

No. 27

Canaletto

The Interior of S.Marco by day. c.1756.




Canaletto rarely depicted interiors and it may be presumed that this one, painted in c.1756, is one of Consul Joseph Smith’s last commissions. The view, possibly taken from an earlier drawing, shows the west end of the basilica looking down the nave to the rood screen in front of the high altar. The decorations and candles shown in the picture might indicate a feast day or special ceremony.

No. 29

Pietro Longhi

Blind Man’s Buff. Panel signed and dated 174(4).




A popular subject in French art, Longhi may have based this painting on a French engraving. He had a particular talent for interior scenes and his success lay in small canvases depicting everyday subjects and day-to-day activities.

No. 30

Francesco Zuccarelli

Europa and the Bull. c.1740.



Mount size: 12” x 16” Oil on copper. Probably commissioned by Joseph Smith, this small piece is one of the finest examples of Zuccarelli’s work in the Smith collection. The feminine content gives rise to the idea that the painting may have been intended for the apartments occupied by Smith’s wife in the Palazzo Balbi on the Grand Canal Venice. The Rape of Europa, as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 11, tells of Jupiter falling in love with Europa and abducting her in the form of a Bull. The drama of Ovid’s tale is ignored by Zuccarelli who concentrates on a gentle pastoral scene of a bull being decorated with garlands of flowers. Europa can be seen only in the distance carried away by the bull led by Cupid.

12

No. 31

Pompeo Batoni

Edward Augustus, Duke of York (1739 - 1767). Created in 1777 and brought to England in 1779.




The Duke was the younger brother of George III; he served in the Navy and is seen here in the undress uniform of a flag officer wearing the Garter. He was in Italy in 1763-64, and while in Rome he sat for Batoni.

No. 33

Raphael

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. c.1516.

Print size: 8.9” x 7”



The original Cartoons are painted on paper in sized colours; the under-drawing is in charcoal and much of it is still visible. Seven of the Cartoons survive from the series of ten commissioned by Pope Leo X to serve as designs for tapestries which were to be woven in Flanders and hung in the Sistine Chapel. The tapestries illustrate the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul.

No. 32

Johann Zoffany

The Tribuna of the Uffizi.c.1516.




In the summer of 1772, Zoffany travelled to Florence to commence work on the Grand Duke of Tuscany’s collection in the Tribuna of the Uffizi. Built by Francesco de’ Medici to a design by Bernado Buontalenti in 1585-9, this hexagonal domed room at the Uffizi Palace, displayed the masterpieces of the Medici collection. Zoffany brings into his painting other works and objects from elsewhere in the Grand Duke’s collection to create a symposium in accordance with contemporary taste. He includes portraits of Florentine connoisseurs and diplomats in addition to young Englishmen passing through the city on the Grand Tour.

No. 34

Raphael

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. (Detail)c.1516.





No. 35

Raphael






13

Paintings

No. 36

Raphael

Christ’s Charge to Peter. (Detail)c.1516.





No. 38

Raphael

The Death of Ananias. (Detail)c.1516.





No. 37

Raphael

The Healing of the Lame Man. (Detail)c.1516.





No. 39

Raphael

The Blinding of Elymas.(Detail)c.1516.





No. 40

Raphael

The Sacrifice of Lystra.c.1516.





14

No. 41

Raphael

The Sacrifice of Lystra. (Detail)c.1516.





No. 43

Raphael

St. Paul Preaching at Athens. (Detail)c.1516.





No. 42

Raphael

St. Paul Preaching at Athens.c.1516.

Print size: 9” x 7”




No. 44

Raphael






No. 1

Duccio di Buoninsegna

Triptych: the Crucifixion and other scenes.c.1302-08. Print size: 9.4” x 6.8”



Tempera on panel. This is an exceptionally fine example of a small domestic devotional work, depicting the Crucifixion; the Annunciation with the Virgin and Child enthroned; and St Francis receiving the Stigmata with the Virgin and Child enthroned. The careful balanced and sophisticated approach suggests that Duccio himself planned the painting, although he may have shared it’s execution with an assistant from his workshop. It was reframed by the Prince and placed in his Dressing and Writing Room at Osbourne House.

17

Paintings

No. 2

Bernardo Daddi

The Marriage of the Virgin. c.1339-42.




Oil on panel, part of a predella, the lowest row of panels, originally for Florence Cathedral but later moved to form a section of the high altarpiece for the church of San Pancrazio, Florence. It is not known how this single panel became separated from the original polytriptych that is preserved in the Uffizi in Florence. The Prince placed it in his Dressing and Writing Room at Osborne House.

19

Paintings

No. 3

School of Jacopo di Cione

The Marriage of the Virgin Triptych. c.1370. Print size: 7.3” x 9.5”



Oil on panels depicting the Coronation of the Virgin with saints; the Annunciation; the Nativity; and the Crucifixion. Once ascribed to Taddeo Gaddi, this beautiful triptych is now believed to have been created by an unknown painter of the Cionesque School, working closely with Niccolo di Tommasco, who himself collaborated with Jacopo and Nardo di Cione.

21

Paintings

No. 4

Gentile da Fabriano

Madonna and Child with Angels (The Quaratesi Madonna). c.1430. Print size: 4.8” x 10.5”



Painted for the Quaratesi family in May 1425, this oil panel once formed the centre piece for the predella of the church of San Niccolo sopr’ Arno near the Porta S. Miniato in Florence. It was placed in the Page’s Waiting Room at Osbourne House.

23

Paintings

No. 5

Fra Angelico

Christ Blessing. c.1423.




Tempera on panel, attributed to the workshop of Fra Angelico. Originally this panel may have represented the pinnacle to a dismembered altarpiece, possibly that of Fra Angelico’s polyptych painted for the Church of San Domenico in Fiesole, which is now in the National Gallery Collection.

25

Paintings

No. 6

Fra Angelico

St. Peter Marytr.c.1430-50.




Oil on panel. An early Renaissance work which formed part of a large altarpiece in the San Marco series of paintings, completed in 1440.

27

Paintings

No. 7

Benozzo Gozzoli

The Fall of Simon Magus.c.1462.




The legend goes that Simon, a sorcerer, intending to prove his divine powers and ascend to Heaven, threw himself from a tower in front of Emperor Nero. St Peter then ordered the demons supporting him to let him fall and we witness his dead body lying prone in the centre of the foreground. Once attached as part of the predella painted for the Compagnia di San Marco, affiliated to San Marco in Florence, Gozzoli was contracted to paint this oil on poplar panel on October 23rd 1461 when his reputation was at its height. The altarpiece itself was dismembered in 1802 and its various parts dispersed.

29

Paintings

No. 8

Giovanni Bellini

Portrait of a Young Man.c.1505.




Oil on panel. Signed below on a label, this painting is one of the last surviving portraits executed by Bellini. Although unidentified, the apparel worn by the sitter is typical of a Venetian cittadino and may possibly be the Venetian writer and humanist Pietro Bembo (1470-1547).

31

Paintings

No. 9

Cima da Conegliano

Altarpiece and the Annunciation.c.1500-1510.




The bottom left panel depicts St George and the Dragon, bottom right panel St Theodore or St Liberale and the top two panels represent the Annunciation. During the 1490s Cima became the leading painter of altarpieces in Venice. Characteristic of a late work by the artist, these oils on panel form the centre part of a larger work.

33

Paintings

No. 10

Lorenzo Costa

A Lady with a Lap-Dog. c.1500-1505.




Oil on poplar panel. The style of costume and head band is typical of the costume of Northern Italy 1490-1505. Although the sitter remains unidentified there is speculation that she may be a member of the Bolognese or Mantuan Court. The left edge of the panel is bevelled at the back, an indication that suggests it may once have been hinged to form the right wing of a diptych, possibly celebrating a marriage. Were this to be the case, the lap dog would symbolise fidelity.

35

Paintings

No. 11

Giorgione

A Shepherd with a Pipe. c.1510-15.




Oil on canvas. Now attributed to Titian, this haunting pastoral theme is reminiscent of Giorgione with whom Titian was apprenticed. However the execution of the painting gives rise to the thought that it may have been painted by Titian based on a lost original conceived by Giorgione. Never the less, some scholars continue to attribute ‘The Shepherd’ to Giorgione.

37

Paintings

No. 12

Antonio Correggio

The Holy Family with St. Jerome. c.1519.




This early altarpiece was probably executed shortly after Correggio settled in Parma. This painting and ‘St. Catherine Reading’ are all that remain of the eight Correggio’s once owned by Charles I.

39

Paintings

No. 13

Titian

Portrait of a Man. 1518 (c.1514-18).




Oil on canvas. Dated variously as from 1511 to early 1520s, the vestments and hairstyle worn by the sitter would indicate a date closer to 1513. Although the sitter is unknown, the pose with his finger marking a page in the book, suggests a writer or humanist the most likely of whom being the Neapolitan poet Jacopo Sannazaro (1458-1530) and is listed as such in The Queen’s Collection.

41

Paintings

No. 14

Lorenzo Lotto

Andrea Odoni. 1527 (signed and dated).




Oil on canvas. Portrait of the Humanist and antique dealer Andrea Odoni surrounded by his collection of antiques, coins and a book. His outstretched hand holds a small statuette, possibly Egyptian. In Venice, where this portrait was executed in 1527 in addition to being Lotto’s birthplace, there was widespread interest among the Humanists in Egyptian hieroglyphics as a source of arcane knowledge and divine wisdom.

43

Paintings

No. 15

Giulio Romano

Isabella d’Este. c.1531.




Oil on panel. This portrait is traditionally identified as Isabella d’Este (1474-1539), wife of Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga. However, documentary evidence and contemporary descriptions suggest that the sitter may be Margherita Paleologo (1510-66) who married Isabella’s son, Frederico Gonzaga, the first Duke of Mantua, in 1531. Isabella herself was one of the foremost patrons of the arts in Renaissance Italy.

45

Paintings

No. 16

Jacopo Bassano

The Adoration of the Shepherds. c.1531.




Oil on canvas. Dating from around 1544-45, Bassano established himself as a major artist of the Venetian School producing a number of large-scale paintings. The composition of this painting includes a ruined temple frequently seen in Renaissance art, which depicts the birth of Christ. It represents a symbol of the Old Dispensation (Judaism) having been superseded by the New Dispensation (Christianity).

47

Paintings

No. 17

Veronese

David and Goliath. c.1546.




This oil on panel was acquired as by Schiavone and has been repeatedly attributed to him, but there is little doubt that this is an early work by Veronese. We see David kneeling victorious over the dead Goliath with the Philistines fleeing in the background.

49

Paintings

No. 18

Annibale Carracci

The Madonna and Sleeping Child with the infant St. John (il Silenzio). c.1599-1600.




Oil on canvas. A much copied small devotional work, engraved by Bartolozzi while it hung in Buckingham Palace in 1768. A copy of note is that attributed to Domenichino (Louvre), painted c1605 shortly after the original.

51

Paintings

No. 19

Artemisia Gentileschi

Self-portrait as Pittura. c.1638-9.




Oil on canvas. Painted as a self-portrait in accordance with the description of the personification of ‘Painting’ given in the Iconologia of Cesare Ripa (1611): A beautiful woman with full black hair, gold chain and iridescent clothing. It is probable that Artemisia produced this work during her stay in London from 1638 - 41.

53

Paintings

No. 20

Guido Reni

Cleopatra with Asp. c.1628.




Oil on canvas, the painting was hung in the Prince’s Closet at Leicester House. Executed in the late 1620s, Reni is known to have painted at least three other versions. According to Reni’s biographer Carlo Cesare Malvascia, Cleopatra was commissioned by his friend Palma Giovane (d.1628) for Boselli, a Venetian merchant, to be judged in competition with companion pictures by Giovane, Renieri and Guercino. Although Reni did not win the competition, Renieri purchased the painting following Boselli’s death.

55

Paintings

No. 21

Guercino

The Libyan Sibyl.c.1651.




Oil on canvas. A late work by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (the Squinter). One of two half-length Sibyls painted for Ippolito Cattani and paid for on the 4th December 1651. One of the twelve Sibyls alleged to have prophesied the coming of Christ to the Gentiles, this painting depicts the Libyan Sibyl identified by the inscription on the book. The pendant, or companion to this painting is the Samian Sibyl (private collection) and a workshop replica can be seen lying in the foreground of Johan Zoffany’s ‘Tribuna of the Uffizi’ in image No: 32.

57

Paintings

No. 22

Luca Giordano

Psyche Honoured by the People. c.1695-7.




The first of a set of twelve surviving paintings on copper which illustrate the story of Cupid and Psyche, a tale of ill matched lovers, one mortal one divine, as recounted at considerable length by Apuleius in The Golden Ass (Books 4-6). Possibly commissioned by Carlos II of Spain or his mother, these late works date from 1692-1702 during which time Giordano spent at the Court of Charles II. Acquired by George III, they are recorded in the Bedchamber at Buckingham Palace (1792), but they are also mentioned in the archives of his father’s collection.

59

Paintings

No. 23

Sebastiano Ricci

The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth, Saint John the Baptist and an Angel. c.1710.




Joseph Smith was the British Consul in Venice during this period. The painting was hung in the Music Room at Kew.

61

Paintings

No. 24

Marco Ricci

The Courtyard of a Country House. c.1728.




Marco Ricci succeeded his father and Canaletto as stage designer at the famed Venetian Theatre of Sant’Angelo. The arrangement and lighting of Ricci’s designs are surprisingly similar to Canaletto’s vedute, (large scale cityscapes or other vista). The Courtyard of a Country House is one of a set of thirty-two drawings in tempera by Marco Ricci. The inscription on the back suggests that some (at least) of the set were painted for the Consul’s wife.

63

Paintings

No. 25

Canaletto

The Bacino di S. Marco on Ascension Day. c.1734.




This oil on canvas, paired with ‘Regatta on the Grand Canal’ (see No 26), is part of a series of 14 views on the Grand Canal. The scene depicts a traditional Venetian ceremony showing the Doge and his suite on the ceremonial vessel, the Bucintoro, after its return to the Molo from the ceremonial Wedding of the Sea on Ascension Day. Formerly in the collection of Consul John Smith, the series was engraved by Antonio Visconti and published in 1735.

65

Paintings

No. 26

Canaletto

A Regatta on the Grand Canal. c.1733-34.




The companion piece to The Bacino di Marco (see No 25), this scene celebrates the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin held on 2nd February. The painting shows the race of light-oared gondolas during this annual regatta with the arms of Carlo Ruzzini, who was Doge from June 1732 - January 1735, on the extreme left. Engraved by Antonio Visconti with its companion piece as the last two plates in his Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum (Venice) published in 1735, gives credence to the date of completion as 1733-1734.

67

Paintings

No. 27

Canaletto

The Interior of S.Marco by day. c.1756.




Canaletto rarely depicted interiors and it may be presumed that this one, painted in c.1756, is one of Consul Joseph Smith’s last commissions. The view, possibly taken from an earlier drawing, shows the west end of the basilica looking down the nave to the rood screen in front of the high altar. The decorations and candles shown in the picture might indicate a feast day or special ceremony.

69

Paintings

No. 28

Canaletto

The Thames from Somerset House.c.1746-50.




A detail taken from one of a pair of London views painted c.1746-50 while Canaletto was in London. Both views are taken from the terrace of Somerset House; in this detail we look down the river towards the City to St. Paul’s Cathedral, completed in 1709, and Wren’s forest of new spires. In the pendant to this painting we look in the opposite direction towards Whitehall and Westminster Abbey. The pair were the last paintings and only English views acquired by his friend and patron Consul Joseph Smith.

71

Paintings

No. 29

Pietro Longhi

Blind Man’s Buff. Panel signed and dated 174(4).




A popular subject in French art, Longhi may have based this painting on a French engraving. He had a particular talent for interior scenes and his success lay in small canvases depicting everyday subjects and day-to-day activities.

73

Paintings

No. 30

Francesco Zuccarelli

Europa and the Bull. c.1740.



Mount size: 12” x 16” Oil on copper. Probably commissioned by Joseph Smith, this small piece is one of the finest examples of Zuccarelli’s work in the Smith collection. The feminine content gives rise to the idea that the painting may have been intended for the apartments occupied by Smith’s wife in the Palazzo Balbi on the Grand Canal Venice. The Rape of Europa, as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 11, tells of Jupiter falling in love with Europa and abducting her in the form of a Bull. The drama of Ovid’s tale is ignored by Zuccarelli who concentrates on a gentle pastoral scene of a bull being decorated with garlands of flowers. Europa can be seen only in the distance carried away by the bull led by Cupid.

75

Paintings

No. 31

Pompeo Batoni

Edward Augustus, Duke of York (1739 - 1767). Created in 1777 and brought to England in 1779.




The Duke was the younger brother of George III; he served in the Navy and is seen here in the undress uniform of a flag officer wearing the Garter. He was in Italy in 1763-64, and while in Rome he sat for Batoni.

77

Paintings

No. 32

Johann Zoffany

The Tribuna of the Uffizi.c.1516.




In the summer of 1772, Zoffany travelled to Florence to commence work on the Grand Duke of Tuscany’s collection in the Tribuna of the Uffizi. Built by Francesco de’ Medici to a design by Bernado Buontalenti in 1585-9, this hexagonal domed room at the Uffizi Palace, displayed the masterpieces of the Medici collection. Zoffany brings into his painting other works and objects from elsewhere in the Grand Duke’s collection to create a symposium in accordance with contemporary taste. He includes portraits of Florentine connoisseurs and diplomats in addition to young Englishmen passing through the city on the Grand Tour.

79

Paintings

No. 33

Raphael

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. c.1516.





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Paintings

No. 34

Raphael






83

Paintings

No. 35

Raphael






85

Paintings

No. 36

Raphael

Christ’s Charge to Peter. (Detail)c.1516.





87

Paintings

No. 37

Raphael

The Healing of the Lame Man. (Detail)c.1516.





89

Paintings

No. 38

Raphael

The Death of Ananias. (Detail)c.1516.





91

Paintings

No. 39

Raphael

The Blinding of Elymas.(Detail)c.1516.





93

Paintings

No. 40

Raphael

The Sacrifice of Lystra.c.1516.





95

Paintings

No. 41

Raphael

The Sacrifice of Lystra. (Detail)c.1516.





97

Paintings

No. 42

Raphael

St. Paul Preaching at Athens.c.1516.

Print size: 9” x 7”




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Paintings

No. 43

Raphael






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Paintings

No. 44

Raphael






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Paintings

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