Luca Giordano, called Fa Presto

The Hon. John Spencer (1708-1746), Althorp House, Northamptonshire (and probably listed in Knapton's catalogue drawn up after his death, see under Literature below);
Thence by descent to his son, John Spencer (1734-1783), Viscount Spencer (from 1761) and later 1st Earl Spencer (from 1765), at Althorp House, Northamptonshire, and Spencer House, St. James's Place, London;
Thence by descent until sold in 1981;
Private collection.

Probably G. Knapton, Catalogue of the Pictures at Althorpe and Wimbledon belonging to the late Hon^ble M^r Spencer, 25 October 1746, no. 387, as hanging in The Housekeepers Chamber' ('The Adoration a large Picture');
K.J. Garlick, "A Catalogue of Pictures at Althorp", in The Walpole Society, vol. XLV, 1974-76, p. 33, no. 240, and (probably) p. 104;
J. Friedman, Spencer House: Chronicle of a Great London Mansion, London 1993, reproduced in situ at Spencer House on p. 143, fig. 121 (photograph by Bedford Lemere, 1892, as hanging in the Great Room, looking north, at Spencer House, London) and again on p. 254, fig. 227 (photograph by Bedford Lemere, 1892, as hanging in the Great Room, looking south, at Spencer House, London).

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas has been lined onto a keyed wooden stretcher with two vertical and one horizontal stretcher-bar. This is ensuring an even and secure structural support and has successfully stabilised the overall craquelure pattern. Paint surface The paint surface has a rather uneven and perhaps rather glossy varnish layer. Inspection under ultraviolet light shows a number of retouchings across the paint surface, the most significant of which are: 1) a horizontal line approximately 33 cm above the lower horizontal framing edge which presumably covers a canvas join, 2) a number of retouchings in the blue draperies of the Virgin, many of which would seem to be larger than is really necessary and are highlighting and strengthening the folds in the drapery, 3) retouchings around the fingers and on the beard of Joseph, 4) a number of small retouchings on the pale draperies in the centre of the composition, and 5) retouchings around the figure of the boy in the lower left of the composition. There are other scattered retouchings across the paint surface and there may well be other retouchings beneath the varnish layers which are not visible under ultraviolet light. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in reasonably good and stable condition and would benefit from revarnishing to ensure a more even and less glossy varnish layer.
"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."

Unknown to Oreste Ferrari and Giuseppe Scavizzi at the time of their catalogue raisonné on Luca Giordano, this painting has remained unpublished and unknown to the public until now. It is not known exactly under what circumstances the Hon. John Spencer acquired the painting but it remained in the prestigious collections of the Earls of Spencer, first at Spencer House in London and subsequently at Althorp House in Northamptonshire, for over two hundred and fifty years.

The painting depicts the familiar New Testament subject of The Adoration of the Magi. Although Giordano treated the theme on a number of occasions throughout his career, the figures in this painting are larger in relation to the picture space than in any other representation of the subject. The monumental composition and colour palette are both reminiscent of 16th-century Venetian painting, which Giordano is known to have greatly admired: the influence of Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese, in particular, is evident here. Giordano is thought to have first travelled to Venice in the early 1650s though recent research carried out by Giuseppe Scavizzi seems to indicate that the artist's first trip to Venice only took place in 1664. Although The Adoration of the Magi does not seem to quite fit in with Giordano's paintings from his 'Venetian' period, which are characterised by a more 'tenebrist' style in the manner of 17th-century Venetian artists such as Langetti or Zanchi, it is hard to imagine that such a painting could have been conceived without a trip to Venice or without seeing works by Veronese at first hand. The painting seems far more consistent with works displaying Giordano's more classical style of the late 1660s and early '70s: the physiognomical types and confident brushwork are also characteristic of his work at this time. It is rather surprising therefore to find that the painting is executed on a Venetian canvas; its herringbone weave is clearly visible.

A NOTE ON THE PROVENANCE
John Spencer (1708-1746), known as the Hon. 'Jack' Spencer was a notorious bon viveur and younger brother of Charles Spencer, 5th Earl of Sunderland (1706-1758). When his grandmother Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, died in 1744 Charles moved to Blenheim Palace and John inherited Althorp House in Northamptonshire as well as all of Sarah's paintings from Marlborough House, Wimbledon Park (the Lodge in Windsor Great Park) and Holywell House, St. Albans. The Hon. John Spencer died in 1746, only two years after coming into his inheritance. His own son John (1734-1783), created Viscount Spencer in 1761 and 1st Earl Spencer in 1765, inherited the family fortune when he was just twelve years old, making him not only one of the richest men of his generation but in the whole of Great Britain. Shortly after his wedding to Georgiana Poyntz, whom he married in secret on his 21st birthday, John Spencer set about building Spencer House.

He initially employed the Palladian architect John Vardy, a pupil of William Kent, who is responsible for the external elevations of Spencer House and the design of the ground floor rooms. James 'Athenian' Stuart, recently returned from Greece, superseded Vardy as architect and was employed between 1759 and 1765 to design the rest of the house's interiors with extraordinary care and meticulous attention to detail: the result is one of most refined neo-classical interiors of its time. For the Great Room, which also served as a ballroom at Spencer House, the 1st Earl acquired two Guercino paintings of King David and The Samian Sibyl with a putto (both now in the National Gallery, London). These used to hang in the same room as Giordano's Adoration of the Magi: Bedford Lemere's 1892 photograph shows the Guercinos hanging either side of the doorway and the Giordano displayed above the fireplace (see fig. 1).¹  The way the pictures were to be framed was of key importance to both the 1st Earl and his architect: the Guercino frames were designed by James 'Athenian' Stuart to match the mouldings of the doorcases and window surrounds that he had also designed for the room. In Lemere's 1892 photograph the Giordano hangs in its current frame; a mid-18th-century English carved and gilt wood Carlo Maratta frame, though probably not designed by Stuart. By 1926, the date of another photograph of the same room, the Great Room had been the object of a complete makeover by Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl (1892-1975), who had removed the original Bolognese pictures to Althorp. In 1927 Spencer House was let to the Ladies' Army and Navy Club, who remained there until 1943, and a number of valuable fixtures (such as chimney-pieces, doors and chair rails) were also removed to Althorp during the Blitz. The painting remained in the Spencer collections, passing through George John, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1836), Charles, 3rd Earl (1782-1845), Frederick, 4th Earl (1798-1857), John Poyntz, 5th Earl (1835-1910), Charles Robert, 6th Earl (1857-1922), Albert Edward John, 7th Earl (1892-1975), and Edward John, 8th Earl (1924-1992), until as recently as 1981.

We are extremely grateful to Prof. Giuseppe Scavizzi for endorsing the attribution to Giordano on the basis of photographs.

 

1.  Also hanging in the Great Room at Spencer House were Andrea Sacchi's Portrait of Marc'antonio Pasqualini Crowned by Apollo (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), two majestic landscapes by Salvator Rosa, and Guido Reni's Liberality and Modesty (private collection).