Ferdinand VOET - Lot 5

Ferdinand VOET (Antwerp 1639 - Paris 1689) Portrait of a gentleman in robe 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, recognized throughout Europe during the Grand Siècle. Voet devoted his career to portraiture. His catalog 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 dit 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 executed a portrait around 1665-1666 that is still preserved in the family): Chigi, Borghese, Pamphilj, Colonna, Rospigliosi - as well as for Christine of Sweden, whose official image he disseminated from 1669 onwards. Among his most famous portraits are 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 Grand Tour travelers, who flocked to Rome in the 1670s. Our gentleman could be part of the tradition of souvenir portraiture of milordi in Rome for their Grand Tour, as witnessed by the many portraits of English and Scottish nobles in robes, competing with Maratta's, depicted in "old-fashioned costume". Examples include 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 rigor and Italian grace. We find the painter's free, luminous touch, inspired by the Venetian masters, giving our model a sensual elegance and an almost pastel softness, particularly in the treatment of the embroidered fabric and 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, creating portraits for the House of Savoy and the local nobility, including the Counts Solaro di Govone, 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