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545
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19th-century ITALIAN SCHOOL in the Renaissance style
See original version (French)
545
-
19th-century ITALIAN SCHOOL in the Renaissance style
See original version (French)
Estimate €20,000 - €30,000
Voluntary lot
Description
19th-century ITALIAN SCHOOL in the Renaissance style
Portrait of a man
White marble bust
Inscription in French on the pedestal: “Count Roch de Cianelli / Ambassador to François I de Médicis / To the Catholic King Henry III of France / On the occasion of their accession in 1574”
Dimensions: 90 x 80 cm, on a white and green marble pedestal
Minor imperfections
Provenance: Bust Room at the Château de Goudourville (Tarn-et-Garonne), Château de Lamonzie Montastruc; French private collection.
Bibliography: -Gonzague de Cianelli de Serans, *Historical Account of the Cianelli de Sérans Family*, Imprimerie Georges Forestié, 1924, p. 8.
This spectacular ceremonial marble bust was probably commissioned to form part of a gallery of ancestors, which remained very much in vogue in the 19th century in private estates. It is documented in 1924 in the so-called ‘bust room’ of the Château de Goudourville (Tarn-et-Garonne), acquired by the des Grottes family in 1876. Gonzague de Cianelli de Sérans (died 1938), husband of Marie des Grottes since 1912 (died 1937), mentions other portraits in his publication entitled *Notice historique de la famille Cianelli de Sérans*. The work, printed in a run of two hundred copies, pays tribute to the Cianelli family, originally from Lucca. The author seeks both to demonstrate his family’s loyalty to the French crown and to affirm the high distinction of his lineage. He states ‘In addition to the doges and senators of the Republic of Lucca whom we have just mentioned, there are notable figures who entered into significant marriages with women of high standing, many of whom have marble busts or portraits preserved in the family gallery at Goudourville Castle. ’ Among these works, he lists the bust of Thomas de Cianelli (1560–1620), who was appointed admiral of the Venetian fleet, the painted portrait and bust of a Rocco Cianelli (1602–1650), as well as our bust, identified as that of another Rocco Cianelli, who is said to have been an ambassador for Francesco I de’ Medici in 1574. A photograph dated 1968 shows this room in Gourdouville Castle emptied of its contents, with the exception of our bust.
The bust, impressive in its size, depicts a middle-aged man dressed luxuriously in the fashion of the 1570s, with a ruff, cloak and festoon. The composition draws direct inspiration from Italian sculpted portraits of this period, in the style of Guglielmo della Porta or Taddeo Carlone. The facial features, for their part, bear a strong resemblance to those of François I de Médicis. The festoon, moreover, features the fleur-de-lis, the emblem of the Medici, alternating in a criss-cross pattern with cornflowers, the heraldic motif of the Cianelli family. This sartorial detail helps to confirm the’identity of the sitter, whose modern title, written in French on the plinth, indicates that he is Count Roch de Cianelli, ambassador of Francesco I de’ Medici to the Catholic King Henry III of France on the occasion of their accession in 1574. However, a cross-check of ancient and modern genealogical sources, as well as diplomatic sources, does not confirm the existence of a Roch de Cianelli, ambassador of Grand Duke François I at the French court in 1574, as this post was held by Vincenzio Alamanni (1536–1590). Whilst it is common practice to render the surfaces of garments by depicting motifs reminiscent of those found on rich velvet or brocade fabrics, as can be seen in the busts by Alessandro Vittoria, it is, on the other hand, by no means customary to depict the coats of arms of the subjects in such works. The cornflowers (ciani in Italian) are, in fact, later additions, dating from the 18th century, introduced by the Neapolitan branch of the Cianelli family, from which Gonzague Cianelli de Serans descended. Whilst the French branch of the Cianelli Serans family dates only from 1858, with the marriage in Florence of Pierre de Cianelli (Naples 1817–Florence 1889), a patrician from Lucca, to Marie Le Petit de Serans (1840–?), his son Gonzague de Cianelli Serans probably either inherited or commissioned this spectacular work in a historicist style—as was the great fashion at the time—with the aim of reinforcing family continuity through the creation of pseudo-genealogical portraits.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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