0121
Marcantonio Franceschini
(Bologna 1648 - 1729 Bologna)
„La Prudence / La Justice (counterparts)“
oil on canvas
140 x 106 cm each (oval)
each monogrammed on the reverse on canvas: MAF (in ligature)
titled on the reverse on canvas: GIVST.A resp. PRVDENZA
Provenance
commissioned of Franceschini by Prince Johann Adam Andreas of Liechtenstein in 1691;
collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Vienna;
collection of the Marquis d'Aligre and their descendants, works acquired most probably at the auction Prince of Liechtenstein, Paris, Hôtel Drouot (Maître Pillet), 4-5 March 1881, nos. 90 and 91;
Millon, Paris, Collection des Marquis d'Aligre. Tableaux, Mobilier & Objets d'art, 17 June 2016, lot 85;
private collection, Austria
Literature
M. Franceschini, Libro dei Conti ("Adi Maggio 11 : dal Sig.r. Paris Ma. Boschi, Doble 30 per pagamento di due mezze figure ció è la Giustizia e la prudenza, fatte per il Principe Adamo Andrea di Lichtenstein, tedesco, dico ... 450");
G. P. Zanotti, Storia dell'Accademia Clementina di Bologna, Bologne, 1739, Tome 1, cités p. 227 ("Ritorno quindi a Bologna, per il Principe Liechtestein fece due mezze figure, la Prudenza, e la Giustizia");
Full Description ... Wenceslao's Painting and Sculpture Gallery ... Prince Ruler of the House of Lichtenstein ... by Vicenzo Fanti, Vienna 1767, no. 315 and 334 (La Prudence et La Liberté);
Description of the Paintings and Sculptures in the Gallery of His Highness of H.H. Franz Joseph ... of Lichtenstein, Vienna 1780, no. 694 (La Discipline militaire);
J. Falke, Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bilder-Galerie im Gartenpalast der Rossau zu Wien, Vienna 1872, no. 583-86;
D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini and the Liechtensteins, Cambridge 1991, no. 32 and 33 (reproduction of the etching), cited on p. 37, 51, 57, note 29 and 189, no. 1 (with reproduction of the etching plate 88);
D. C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini, Turin 2001, p. 348 (with reproduction of the etching)
Estimate: € 50.000 - 100.000
Result: € 102.400 (incl. fees)
Auction is closed.
Marcantonio Franceschini was the most significant student of the Bolognese artist Carlo Cignani (1628 – 1719) and his most important collaborator until he opened his own workshop in 1680.
The two impressively modeled half figures were of great importance to the artist himself. These pendants were the first works that Prince Johann Adam Andreas von Liechtenstein (1657 – 1712) bought from him. Franceschini demonstrated his talent with the paintings and also won the prince as his most important foreign client. An excerpt from a letter from the prince to Franceschini, sent from Vienna on June 12, 1691, confirms the enthusiasm for the two outstanding female figures: “le due neze [mezze] figure della mano di VS. hanno dato una gran satisfatione a Noi [...]”. Inspired by this enthusiasm, he commissioned numerous other paintings from Franceschini and tried to get the artist to come to Vienna – a wish, however, that Franceschini did not give in to. Nevertheless, the two stayed in close contact through letters for years. Franceschini created more than 42 paintings for him in almost 20 years, including two eight-part cycles about the goddess Diana and Adonis (1692-1698) and three paintings with the gods of Olympus for the gallery of the Palais Liechtenstein in Rossau, located in a district of the present day Vienna (1706-1709).