Francisco Bayeu y Subias

Commissioned by King Charles IV in 1791 for the Oratorio del Rey del Palacio Real de Aranjuez;
Acquired immediately after the artist's death in 1795 by Leonardo Chopinot (each for 1,100 reales);
The former chosen by the court painter Jacinto Gómez for the collection of Don Manuel Godoy, Duque de Alcudia (as specified in the will of Angel Sulpice de Chopinot);
Both believed to have been acquired by the grandfather of their previous owner directly from a descendant of Chopinot.

Marqués de Saltillo, Miscelánea madrileña, histórica y artística. Primera serie, Goya en Madrid; su familia y allegados (1746-1856), Madrid 1952, p. 73;
J.L. Morales y Marin, Los Bayeu, Zaragoza 1979, no. 159 (the Adoration of the Magi only); 
J.L. Morales y Marin, Francisco Bayeu. Vida y Obra, Zaragoza 1995, p. 124, nos. 198 & 199, both reproduced, the latter also in colour p. 42. 

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. These two paintings have quite recently been lined and have strong recent stretchers. The linings have retained the beautifully fresh texture and impasto throughout, and the vivid brushwork remains perfectly intact. Both paintings appear virtually entirely pure and untouched, seemingly with no trace of ever having been cleaned, with a light film of scarcely yellowed varnish. There are one or two little fly spots, a minute white scratched mark in the background of the Adoration of the Magi and a narrow slanting scratch at lower centre under the kneeling shepherd in the Adoration of the Shepherds but essentially they are that rarest occurrence paintings in perfect natural condition. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"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."

These two beautifully preserved bocetos were painted by Francisco Bayeu as preparatory works for two of the large frescoes commissioned by Charles IV in 1791 for the remodelled Oratorio in the royal palace of Aranjuez outside Madrid. The Oratorio was remodelled by the architect Juan de Villanueva who split it into two rooms which were then decorated in marble, stucco and gilded bronze by the brothers Billi and Juan Bautista Ferroni. Bayeu filled the vault with a large fresco depicting God the Father seated on a throne of clouds beneath a canopy supported by angels. On the lateral walls he painted the two Adorations; the Adoration of the Magi is flanked by a full-length depiction of St. Matthew and the Adoration of the shepherds by Saint Luke.¹ The other scenes filling the room are the Visitation and the Flight into Egypt.

Bayeu's first royal commissions came to him somewhat indirectly when the painter Anton Rafael Mengs invited him to work under his direction at the Palacio Real in Madrid in 1763. The following year he began one of his most important early commissions, the Olympus: The Fall of the Giants (1764), a ceiling fresco in one of the public chambers of the Prince of the Asturias (in situ). His precocious talent saw him very soon appointed Pintor de Cámara (1767) and he began his great Apotheosis of Hercules series shortly afterwards. The style of these frescoes is in the italian tradition of Corrado Giaquino, learned from his master Antonio González Velásquez, himself a pupil of Giaquinto. Royal commissions, latterly at Aranjuez, continued until his death in 1795, the year he was appointed Director de Pintura at the real Academia.

We are grateful to Prof. Arturo Ansón Navarro for endorsing the attribution to Bayeu.

Provenance
Leonardo Chopinot, who acquired these two works straight after Bayeu's death from the benficiaries of his will, was gold and diamond jeweller to the King Charles IV.² Chopinot acquired a number of works by the artist in this way, including his wonderful signed dog portrait, Bastin dormido.³ Chopinot's own will testifies to the fact that the Adoration of the Magi, at least, was chosen by the kings' court painter Jacinto Gómez for the collection of the Prince of Peace, Don Manuel Godoy.

 

1.  Morales y Marin, op. cit., pp. 122-3, no. 193, Saints Luke and Matthew reproduced.
2.  They are described as Id otro cuadro que representa la adoración de los Pastores 1.100 reales de vellón and Id otro, de igual tamaño, representa la adoracion de los Reyes 1.100 reales de vellón.
3.  Ibid., pp. 111-12, no. 155, reproduced.