Giovanni Lanfranco Parma bapt 1582 - 1647 Rome

Probably painted for Conte Orazio Scotti, Marchese di Montalbo (1568-1629), in Piacenza, and thence by family descent until the end of the 18th Century;
Probably hanging in Palazzo Scotti di San Siro until at least 1846 (see Literature below).

Probably G. Bellori, Le vite de’ pittori, scultori et architetti moderni (Rome 1672), ed. E. Borea, Turin, 1976, p. 380;
Probably J.J. Lalande, Voyage d'un français en Italie fait dans les années 1765 & 1766, Paris 1769, 3rd ed. Geneva 1790, vol. I, p. 419;
Probably G.B. Anguissola, Il Cicerone della Cattedrale di Piacenza ossia Guida della detta Città, 1832/4-46, MS. Com. prov. A. Rapetti, formerly Misc. Rapetti 49, no. 12, Biblioteca Comunale, Piacenza, f. 30 v. (as hanging in the Palazzo Scotti di San Siro, Piacenza);
Probably D. Cavaliere, "Il Pittore Giovanni Lanfranco a Piacenza", in Bollettino Storico Piacentino, vol. XXVII, 1932, pp. 3-4;
Probably E. Schleier, Die römische Zeit Giovanni Lanfrancos (1602-1634), Ph.D. dissertation, University of Hamburg 1966, pp. 1569-73;
Probably E. Schleier, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 3, 2004, p. 57 (as lost).

This painting, which is one of very few signed works by the artist, provides a fascinating insight into the oeuvre of Lanfranco; an artistic personality who was to become one of the leading figures in the development of the baroque painting in Rome.

It is most likely identifiable with the painting mentioned by Giovanni Pietro Bellori in his Le vite de’ pittori, scultori et architetti moderni where he notes: “…si trattenne circa un’ anno nella patria, & in Piacenza, dove egli dimorò in Casa del Conte Scotti suo Benefattore. Per questo Signore varie cose, & in diversi tempi, dipinse, il Ratto d’Helena, l’Incendio di Troia, le stimmate di San Francesco…” (see Literature). The young Giovanni Lanfranco served as a page in Piacenza for Conte Orazio Scotti, Marchese di Montalbo (1568-1629), who, recognising the young artist’s potential, arranged for the seventeen-year-old to be apprenticed with Agostino Carracci in Parma in 1599. Lanfranco remained in Parma until Agostino’s death in 1602, whereupon he travelled to Rome to continue his studies with Annibale Carracci, who was then working on the Galleria Farnese. This painting either pre-dates 1599 and was executed by Lanfranco whilst staying with Scotti as a page-boy or, more likely, dates from Lanfranco’s second visit to Piacenza, some time during the second half of 1610. Then too he is known to have been Scotti’s guest and his sojourn is believed to have lasted until early 1612. By that time Lanfranco’s style had developed sufficiently for him to tackle such a commission and the influence of Annibale Carracci, alongside whom Lanfranco had worked in Rome, also argues for the latter dating for the present work. Furthermore, the form of the signature (LANFRĀCVS) is also consistent with other works by the artist dating from around this time, such as his Crucifixion in Porcigatone or his Saint Luke in Piacenza, both dated to 1611 (see Schleier, Giovanni Lanfranco. Un pittore barocco tra Parma, Roma e Napoli, exhibition catalogue, Parma, Reggio di Colorno, 8 September - 2 December 2001, cat. nos. 2 and 5, both reproduced in colour). Although very few easel paintings from this period of Lanfranco’s career survive, the picture may be compared in its broad handling, facial types, and use of chiaroscuro to his Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Rustico formerly in the church of Sant’Andrea in Piacenza, datable to circa 1611 (see Schleier, in op. cit., pp. 102-3, cat. no. 4, reproduced in colour).

Scotti’s 15th-century palazzo stood on the corner of via San Simone (today via Poggiali) and via San Niccolò de’ Cattanei (today via Mazzini). The picture would appear to have remained in the collection of the Scotti di Montalbo until the extinction of the family line, at the end of the 18th Century, and during the first half of the 19th Century Marchese Giovanni Battista Anguissola mentions two paintings by Lanfranco depicting The Sack of Troy in his guidebook of Piacenza; one in Palazzo Anguissola da Grazzano and the other in Palazzo Scotti di San Siro (“Un Incendio di Troia di Giovanni Lanfranchi” and “Incendio di Troia dipinto con orribile aspetto dal Cavaliere Giovanni Lanfranco parmigiano che dovea tutta la sua gratitudine al Marchese Orazio Scotti di Montalbo”; see Literature). It is very likely that the latter is to be identified with the present picture.

The subject is relatively rare in Italian baroque painting – the most famous example being the painting by Federico Barocci in the Galleria Borghese, Rome (1598) – and Lanfranco is not known to have painted it again (other than that mentioned by Anguissola).

We are grateful to Dr. Erich Schleier for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.