Auction House

Auction: Old Master Paintings

19. June 2024, 2:00 pm

Object overview
Object

3030

Domenico Fetti

(Rom 1589 - 1623 Venedig)

„Adonis“
c. 1613
oil on canvas; carved and gilded Rocaille frame (Vienna, c. 1730/40)
100 x 72 cm

Provenance

probably comissioned from the artist c. 1613 by Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga (1587-1626), later Duke of Mantua and Montferrato;
probably in his collection in the Palazzo Ducale, Mantua;
probably in the collection of Field Marshall Johann von Aldringen (1588-1634) from c. 1630/31, Vienna;
probably to the descendants of Johann von Aldringen by inheritance, Vienna;
private property, Vienna (according to a photograph in the Witt Library, London (cf. certificate by Safarik): Alfred Scharf, Vienna);
auction Dorotheum, Vienna, 27th Februar 1936, no. 9, ill. pl. 1 (as Domenico Feti, "The adolescent Esau");
Viennese private property for several generations by inheritance

Literature

Eduard A. Safarik, Fetti: l’Opera Completa, Mailand 1990, p. 243-45, cat.-no. 107 (with ill.)

Certificate by Prof. Dr. Eduard A. Safarik, Rome, 9th November 2009, is enclosed.

Estimate: € 50.000 - 100.000
Hammer price: € 45.000
Auction is closed.

Prof. Eduard Safarik had already included this painting in his comprehensive catalogue raisonné of Domenico Fetti's work in 1990, as a previously unknown work by Domenico Fetti, on the basis of old black and white photographs. In 2009 he was able to inspect the original in Vienna for the first time and wrote a supplementary letter in which he emphasised the painting’s excellent state of preservation: The paint layer is in an optimal state of preservation, the fine glazes on the surface were not plastered over during the restoration, the delicate colours have retained their original transparency and brushstrokes, which are characteristic of an early work by Domenico Fetti that was undoubtedly created in Rome. („ho potuto esaminare accuramente in casa Sua il dipinto, fortunatamente in ottimo Stato di conservazione, rifoderato e sottoposto negli ultimi anni ad una leggera e competente pulitura della superficie pittorica, che han conservato tutta la sua freschezza, finissime velature, il colorismo delicato e armonioso ele tipichesciolte pennellate, caratteristiche di un autografo di Domenico Fetti, risalente indubbiamente al period giovanile dell’artista trascorso a Roma”). Eduard Safarik further discusses the history of the painting's creation and probable subsequent ownership in detail:

The painting was created in Rome around 1613 as an important early work. At the time, the influence of his first teacher Ludovico Cigoli (1559-1613) was still noticeable, but Fetti was already beginning to emerge as an independent artist. Eight other paintings from this period are documented: a "Saint with Crown", a series of six "Holy Martyrs" (now in the Palazzo Ducale, Mantua) and a "David with the Head of Goliath" (cf. Safarik 1990, cat. nos. 57, 58-62, 5). Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga (1587-1626) was one of the artist's greatest patrons in Rome. After the unexpected death of his elder brother, Francesco IV Gonzaga (1586-1612), and his accession to the duchy, he took his collection with him to Mantua.

During the capture of Mantua by imperial troops in 1630/31, Field Marshal Johann von Aldringen (1588-1634) secured the majority of the most important art works from the famous Palazzo Ducale and brought them to Vienna. Johann von Aldringen died in 1634, and it cannot be clearly reconstructed today whether this painting remained in Vienna with his descendants and was later sold, or if, like other parts of the collection, it was moved to Teplitz Castle in northern Bohemia after 1636 as a gift of imperial loyalty and was captured by Prussian troops in 1778. In Eduard Safarik’s estimation, it is highly probable that the work remained in Vienna, not least because the splendidly carved and gilded rocaille frame, certainly produced in the first half of the 18th century, must have originated in the imperial capital.

The painting itself depicts a subject that was uncommon at the time: the ideal figure of Adonis, both youthful and masculine. This theme led to misinterpretations of the figure as a "youthful Esau" or "David" in the past. The latter was also treated by Domenico Fetti in several versions, including the early work mentioned above (Safarik 1990, cat. no. 5) and the painting "David with the Head of Goliath", now in the Gemäldegalerie Dresden, and in the version formerly in a private collection in Stockholm, which was auctioned in New York in 2014 (Christie's New York, 4 June 20, lot 2; Safarik 1990, cat. nos. 7 & 7b). Another "Adonis" painting, which was probably completed in Fetti's workshop as a variant of the present painting, is now in the museum in Ostrava, Czechia. It was originally in a collection of around 20 paintings by Fetti, which belonged to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614-1662) and was also erroneously described as "David" in his inventory of 1659: "Ein Stuckh (...) warin Dauidt (...) mit einem langen Stab vnndt ein Tigerhaut (...)" (Safarik 1990, cat. no. 108).

The present painting can be clearly identified as "Adonis", the epitome of male beauty, who enchanted both Zeus and Aphrodite. The cane adorned with blossoming buds symbolises the fertile vegetation; the wild boar's pelt covering the young man, on the other hand, represents winter and the anticipation of his tragic demise: according to tradition, Adonis was killed by Ares, the lover of Aphrodite, who turned into a furious boar (cf. certificate Eduard Safarik 2009).