- 241
Giovanni de' Busi, called Cariani
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Giovanni de' Busi, called Cariani
- Portrait of a bearded gentleman, half length, wearing a black shirt and cape, holding gloves in his right hand and a lemon in his left, a landscape beyond
- oil on canvas, unframed
Provenance
Palazzo Orsini, Florence;
William Clare, Bristol;
Rev. J.W. Blancoe;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 12 July 1963, lot 25 (as 'Cariani'), for 120 guineas to Cellini.
Exhibited
Milan, Palazzo Reale, L'Anima e il Volto: Ritratto e Fisiognomica da Leonardo a Bacon, 30 October 1998 - 14 March 1999.
Literature
R. Pallucchini & F. Rossi, Giovanni Cariani, Bergamo 1983, p. 124, cat. no. 43, reproduced p. 245, fig. 118 (listed as whereabouts unknown);
L. Ravelli, Arte nelle antiche case lombarde. Quadri e mobili dal collezionismo di Lombardia, dal '500 alla fine del '700, exhibition catalogue, Bergamo, 1992, p. 8;
F. Caroli, in L'Anima e il Volto: Ritratto e Fisiognomica da Leonardo a Bacon, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Palazzo Reale, 30 October 1998 - 14 March 1999, p. 121, reproduced.
Condition
"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
The original canvas is lined. The surface is stable. There are 2cm restored strips to left and right edges. There is a small scattering of retouchings to the clothes and some restoration to paint losses in the face and to the profile, where canvas weave is visible. There is a moderately discoloured varnish."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
This portrait has been dated to the artist's maturity, that is to the first half of the 1530s, and can be compared to Cariani's signed Portrait of an elderly gentleman wearing a hat in the Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo (for which see Pallucchini & Rossi, under Literature, pp. 133-34, cat. no. 61, reproduced on p. 243, fig. 116). The prominent positioning of the lemon on the parapet in the foreground remains unclear although its inclusion is likely to be symbolic, probably alluding to the man's identity.