Master Paintings and Drawings
Master Paintings and Drawings
Property from a Private Collection
Pietro Nelli
Portrait of Pope Clement XI, bust-length
Lot Closed
March 23, 02:36 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Private Collection
Pietro Nelli
Carrara 1672 - 1740 Rome(?)
Portrait of Pope Clement XI, bust-length
oil on canvas
canvas: 28 ¾ by 23 ½ in.; 73 by 59.7 cm.
framed: 34 by 28 ¾ in.; 86.4 by 73 cm.
Thence by inheritance to present owners.
Pietro Nelli was born in Carrara and established a career painting portraits of ecclesiastical figures. He portrayed Pope Clement XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani) in several paintings and drawings, the largest being a seated three-quarter length portrait now in the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Rome. The present lot, which depicts the Pope relatively late in life, bust-length, was engraved by Girolamo de Rossi.1
1. See F. Petrucci, Pittura di Ritratto a Roma, il '700, Rome 2010, vol. 3, p. 779, no. 1010.