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Ferdinand VOET (Antwerp 1639 - Paris 1689)
Portrait of a gen…
See original version (French)
Ferdinand VOET (Antwerp 1639 - Paris 1689)
Portrait of a gen…
See original version (French)
Lot no. 5
Description
Ferdinand VOET
(Antwerp 1639 - Paris 1689)
Portrait of a gentleman in dressing gown
Canvas
75 x 63 cm
Provenance :
Collection of the Marchioness G. Cavalcabò-Misuracchi, Cremona ;
Remained in the family until recently.
Jacob Ferdinand Voet, known in Italy as Monsù Ferdinando or Ferdinando dé Ritratti, was one of the most fashionable portraitists of Baroque Rome. Between the pontificate of Clement IX Rospigliosi (1667-1669) and the early years of that of Innocent XI Odescalchi (1676-1685), he established himself as a leading painter, recognised throughout Europe during the Grand Siècle. Voet devoted his career to portraiture. His catalogue continues to expand, following the publication of a monograph in 2005 (see F. Petrucci, Ferdinando Voet (1639 - 1689) detto Ferdinando dé Ritratti, Rome 2005).
Recent research has restored this Flemish painter to his rightful place in the history of art, whose work has often been confused with that of Pierre Mignard, Carlo Maratta and Giovan Battista Gaulli, known as Il Baciccio, his great Roman rivals in the art of portraiture (see I Gentiluomini di Voet, Genoa 2021).
Trained in Antwerp, probably in his father's studio, he moved to Rome in 1663. He worked for the great aristocratic families (his first known commissioner was Wilhelm von Fürstenberg, for whom he painted a portrait around 1665-1666 that is still kept in the family): Chigi, Borghese, Pamphilj, Colonna, Rospigliosi - as well as for Christine of Sweden, whose official image he published from 1669. His most famous portraits include those of Maria and Ortensia Mancini (private collection), Flavio Chigi (Ariccia, Palazzo Chigi) and Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna (Rome, Colonna collection).
His success won over the English travellers on the Grand Tour, who flocked to Rome in the 1670s. Our gentleman could be part of the tradition of the souvenir portrait of milordi in Rome for their Grand Tour, as shown by the many portraits of English and Scottish nobles in dressing gowns, competing with those by Maratta, depicted in "old-fashioned costume". We cite the portraits of Sir Thomas Isham, the Earl of Arran and Sir Philip Perceval (see op.cit., p. 265, no. 263, reproduced). Our painting is a fine example of the synthesis between Flemish portrait rigour and Italian grace. We find the painter's free and luminous touch, inspired by the Venetian masters, which gives our model a sensual elegance and an almost pastel softness, particularly in the treatment of the embroidered fabric and the vanity accessories (the bow, the wig).
Around 1680, after a short stay in Rome, Voet first settled in Florence, attracted by the prospect of succeeding Justus Sustermans, the Medici's official portraitist who died in 1681. Then, between 1682 and 1684, he worked in Piedmont, painting portraits for the House of Savoy and the local nobility, in particular the Counts Solaro di Govone and Valperga di Masino and the Marquis Turinetti di Priero.
He ended his career in France, where he executed numerous commissions for members of the court, before dying in Paris in 1689.
Expert : René Millet Expertise
See original version (French)
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