AFTER SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS | Self portrait

dedicated on the reverse of the canvas: 'V Per L’assistente' / 'R. Rossi'oil on canvas, unlined, unframed The present painting derives ultimately from Rubens' signed and dated self-portrait of 1623, in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen in Windsor Castle (inv. no. 400156), originally painted for Charles I.1 A version attributed to Rubens' workshop, upon which the present copy may be directly based, is in the Uffizi in Florence (inv. no. 1884).2 1 https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/400156/a-self-portrait2 https://www.wga.hu/html_m/r/rubens/41portra/22sp1623.html 

All paintings available to view at the Sotheby’s Greenford Park warehouse, 5 - 7 and 10 – 13 September (10 - 4pm), by appointment. The canvas is unlined, the paint surface is clean and the varnish is yellowed and shiny. The network of craquelure is visible throughout, and there are a handful of pin prick holes in the canvas dotted in the sitter's hat. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals four restorations to losses lower left, the largest of which measures 2 x 2 cm, and two in the sitter's collar, the larger of which measures 1 x 3 cm. The varnish can also be seen to be thick and slightly uneven, coagulating in the lines of craquelure.
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