NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL, 18TH CENTURY | Portrait of Queen Maria Carolina (1752-1814), three-quarter length; Portrait of King Ferdinand IV (1751-1825), three-quarter length

both oil on canvas, a pair

Charles Potter Kling (1867-1934), Maine;
By whom bequeathed to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Maine in 1935 (inv. no. 1935.920/1).

The former: The canvas is lined. Elegant sitter reads well. Craquelure throughout with some associated pin dots of loss, like on her dress at lower center. Stretcher bar marks extend along all edges. Inspection under UV reveals a dirty varnish with scattered spots of retouches throughout, with a more concentrated area on her face, neck, and chest. Offered in a simple wood frame colored gold. The latter: The canvas is lined. Some areas of craquelure with small loss here and there like at center, on the sitter's outfit. At bottom left corner and bottom right, on the table, there are spots of loss. Stretcher bar marks extend along all edges. Inspection under UV reveals a dirty varnish that is difficult to read through. Areas of retouches on face, with further smaller spots scattered throughout, like on the neck of the jacket at upper left. Offered in a simple wood frame colored gold.
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Ferdinand IV (1751-1825) was the third son of King Charles III and succeeded him in Naples when Charles III ascended the Spanish throne in 1759. Starting in 1816, Ferdinand IV came to be known as Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies. He is shown in the present lot wearing the red sash and breast-star of the Royal Neapolitan Order of Saint Januarius, the blue sash and breast-star of the Royal French Order of the Saint-Esprit, and the breast-star of the Royal Spanish Order of Charles III. In 1768, King Ferdinand married Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1752-1814), daughter of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa. She is shown in the present lot wearing a mustard colored dress with a jeweled brooch with an image of her husband.