Roman School (17th Century). The worship of Venus, after Titian. Oil on canvas. 70 x 66-1/2 inches (177.8 x 168.9 cm). ...

Description

Roman School (17th Century)
The worship of Venus, after Titian
Oil on canvas
70 x 66-1/2 inches (177.8 x 168.9 cm)

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, France;
Christie's, London, November 2, 2016, lot 60;
Private collection, Houston, Texas, acquired from the above.

The present lot represents a faithful copy of Titian's The Worship of Venus. Executed between 1518 and 1519, the original work currently resides in the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.

Commissioned for the Camerino d'Alabastro of Alfonso I d'Este in Ferrara, Titian's painting was moved along with several others to the Aldobrandini Palace in Rome in 1598, and remained there until 1637, at which point it was absorbed into the collection of Philip IV of Spain.

The handling of the copy on offer here suggests that it was very likely executed in Rome by an artist familiar with Titian's original. An eighteenth-century label on the reverse attributes the picture to one such artist, Francesco Albani (1578-1660). Albani worked in Rome sporadically, including three long stays between 1600 and 1625, during which time he enjoyed the favor of Cardinal Aldobrandini, who may have granted him access to the original Worship of Venus and more. Because of this connection, it has long been suspected that Albani did in fact copy Titian's works; however, the only surviving evidence of this appears in a 1639 inventory of the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden, wherein the description of a painting by Albani seems to match that of The Worship of Venus. The seventeenth-century inventory omits some of the details typical in modern-day cataloguing, which ultimately prevents the determination of a sure match, and leaves this copy's authorship tantalizingly undefined.


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