Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini

Object Details

Title:

Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini

Artist/Maker:

Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599 - 1641)

Culture:

Flemish

Date:

about 1621

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

216.2 × 141 cm (85 1/8 × 55 1/2 in.)

See more

See less

Agostino Pallavicini, a member of the Genoese branch of the Pallavicini family and the future doge of Genoa, sits enveloped by the sumptuous, flowing red robes worn in his role as ambassador to the Pope. The wide expanse of fabric, spectacularly rendered, seems to have a life of its own and almost threatens to take over the painting. The luxurious swirl of cloth, its brilliant sheen, and the way it glimmers and reflects light display Anthony van Dyck's virtuosity as a painter. The family coat of arms seen on the drapery behind the sitter at the left, along with other documented portraits, firmly establishes Pallavicini's identity.

In 1621 Van Dyck left Antwerp and traveled to Italy, where he stayed for five years, viewing large private collections of Italian paintings and painting various portraits. This was one of the first paintings he made in Italy, painted in 1621 to commemorate the sitter's service as an ambassador to the newly elected Pope Gregory XV.

Provenance
about 1621 -

Agostino Pallavicini, died 1649, by inheritance to Ansaldo Pallavincini.

-

Ansaldo Pallavicini, by inheritance to Anna Maria Pallavicini.

-

Anna Maria Pallavicini, by inheritance to Paolo Francesco Doria.

- 1732

Paolo Francesco Doria, died 1732, by inheritance to Maddelena Doria.

-

Maddelena Doria, by inheritance to Paolo Francesco Spinola.

- 1824

Paolo Francesco Spinola, died 1824, by inheritance to Giacomo Spinola di Luccoli.

-

Giacomo Spinola di Luccoli

1841 -

Andrew Wilson, sold to Joseph Hawley.

-

Sir Joseph Henry Hawley, third Bart., 1814 - 1875, by inheritance to Henry James Hawley.

by 1879 -

Sir Henry James Hawley, fourth Bart., 1815 - 1898 (Brighton, East Sussex, England)
Source: Painting exhibited 1879.

- 1887

Martin H. Colnaghi, 1821 - 1908 (London, England), sold to Arthur Pemberton Heywood-Lonsdale.

1887 - 1897

Arthur Pemberton Heywood-Lonsdale, died 1897 (Shavington, Shropshire, England), by inheritance to Henry Heywood-Lonsdale, 1897.

1897 - 1930

Lt. Col. Henry Heywood-Lonsdale, died 1930 (Shavington, Shropshire, England), by inheritance to A. Heywood-Lonsdale, 1930.

1930 - 1968

Lt. Col. A. Heywood-Lonsdale (Shavington, Shropshire, England), sold through Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd. (London, England) to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1968.

Exhibitions
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School (January 5 to March 13, 1880)
  • Royal Academy of Arts (London)
Van Dyck exhibition (1900)
  • Royal Academy of Arts (London), 1900
Walker Art Gallery (1959)
  • Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1959
The J. Paul Getty Collection (June 29 to September 3, 1972) (27)
  • The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Minneapolis), June 29 to September 3, 1972
Anthony van Dyck: Paintings in the Grand Manner (November 11, 1990 to February 10, 1991)
  • National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), November 11, 1990 to February 10, 1991
Genova Nell'etá Barocca / Genova in the Baroque Age (May 2 to November 9, 1992)
  • Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola (Genoa), May 2 to July 26, 1992
Van Dyck (March 15 to December 10, 1999)
  • Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (Antwerp), May 15 to August 15, 1999
  • Royal Academy of Arts (London), September 11 to December 10, 1999
Bibliography

Bellori, Giovanni Pietro. Le vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti moderni (Rome: Mascardi, 1672; repr., n. p.: Arnaldo Forni Editore, 1977) p. 256.

Ratti, Carlo Giuseppe. Instruzione di quanto può vedersi di più bello in Genova in pittura, scultura, ed architetura, 2nd ed. (Genoa: 1780) p. 140.

Cunningham, Allan. The Life of Sir David Wilkie, vol. 2. (London: 1843) pp. 420, 430, 439, 448-49, 474, 480-82, 494-95.

Cook, Herbert. "L'exposition Van Dyck à Londres." Gazette des Beaux Arts. 3rd ser. 23. (April 1900) pp. 335, 336.

Cust, Lionel. Anthony van Dyck: An Historical Study of his Life and Works (London: George Bell and Sons, 1900) pp. 43-44, 219, no. 47, 244, no. 123, ill. opp. p. 42.

Friedländer, Max J. exhibition review, Van Dyck in London. Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 23. (1900) pp. 168-71.

Laban, Ferdinand. "Van Dycks Bildnisse eines genuesischen senators und seine Frau." Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 22. (1901) p. 204, no. 1.

Schaeffer, Emil. Van Dyck (Klassiker der Kunst 13). (Stuttgart and Leipzig: 1909) no. 434. ill., 518.

Waterhouse, Ellis Kirkham. Notebooks, 67 vols., 1924-85, Los Angeles, Getty Research Institute, accession no. 870204 vol. 58, p. 222 (Dec. 10, 1970).

Burchard, Ludwig. "Genuesischen Frauenbildnisse van Rubens." Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 50. (1929) p. 336.

Tipping, H. English Homes. Period IV, col. 1. (1929) p. 203, ill.

Glück, Gustav. Van Dyck (Klassiker der Kunst 13, 2d rev. ed.). (New York: 1931) no. 204, p. 541, repr.

Hargreaves-Mawdsley, W.N. A History of Legal Dress in Europe until the End of the Eighteenth Century. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963) p. 10.

Finck, Furman. Complete Guide to Portrait Painting. (New York: 1970) p. 84.

Fredericksen, Burton B. Catalogue of the Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1972) pp. 72-73, no. 87, ill.

The J. Paul Getty Collection, exh. cat. (Minneapolis: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1972) unpaginated, no. 27, ill.

Fredericksen, Burton B., ed. The J. Paul Getty Museum: Greek and Roman Antiquities, Western European Paintings, French Decorative Arts of the Eighteenth Century (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1975) pp. 70, 110-11, ill.

Fredericksen, Burton B., et al. Guidebook: The J. Paul Getty Museum. 3rd ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1976) p. 67.

Fredericksen, Burton B., Jírí Frel, and Gillian Wilson. Guidebook: The J. Paul Getty Museum. 4th ed. Sandra Morgan, ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1978) pp. 84-85, ill.

Fredericksen, Burton B. Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1980) unpaginated, no. 29, ill.

Fredericksen, Burton B., et al. The J. Paul Getty Museum Guidebook. 5th ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1980) pp. 74-75, ill.

Agnew, Julian. Introduction to A Dealer's Record, Agnew, 1967-81. (London: 1981) pp. 12, 83.

Spike, John T. Baroque Portraiture in Italy. exh. cat. (Sarasota, Ringling Museum, and Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum: 1984-85) p. 213, ill.

Wilson, William. The Los Angeles Times Book of California Museums (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984) pp. 175-76, ill.

Barnes, Susan J. "Van Dyck in Italy," Ph.D. dissertation (New York University: 1986) vol. 1, pp. 102-3, 228-32, no. 32, vol. 2, ill. 229.

Boccardo, Piero. "Per la storia della quadreria di Palazzo Spinola." Palazzo Spinola a Pellicceria: Due musei una dimora storica. Quaderni della Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola 10. (Genoa: 1987) pp. 62, 66-69, fig. 45.

Reinewald, Chris. "Musea en Galeries in Amerika. Het Getty Museum: Een Romeinse villa aan de Pacific Coast." Tableau 9, no. 4 (February 1987) pp. 65, 67.

Sborgi, Franco, et al. La Pittura a Genova e in Liguria dal Seicento al primo Novecento. (Genoa: 1987) p. 292.

Fredericksen, Burton B. Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Rev. ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1988) unpaginated, no. 1, ill.

Larsen, Erik. The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck. 2 vols. (Freren, Germany: Luca Verlag, 1988), vol. 1 vol. 1, pp. 220-21, ill. 170; vol. 2, p. 149, no. 366.

Gallo, Marzia Cataldi. "Ritratto e costume: status symbol nella Genova del Seicento." Bolletino Ligustico per la Storia e la Cultura Regionale. n.s. 1. (1989) p. 83.

Zeri, Federico. Behind the Image: The Art of Reading Paintings. Nina Rootes, trans. (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1990) pp. 225-26, fig. 9.

Cotter, Holland. "Van Dyck: The Subject Transfigured." exh. review. Art in America, vol. 79. (July 1991) pp. 79, 75.

Jaffé, Michael. "Washington: Van Dyck at The National Gallery of Art." exh. review, Burlington Magazine 133. (February 1991) p. 142.

Koch-Hillebrecht, Manfred. Museen in den USA: Gemälde (Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 1992) pp. 277-78.

Fredericksen, Burton B., et al. Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum. 3rd ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1995) unpaginated, no. 21, ill., entry by Burton B. Fredericksen.

Jaffé, David. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997) p. 37, ill.

Fredericksen, Burton B. et al. Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Paintings (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997) pp. 52-53, no. 27, ill., entry by Burton B. Fredericksen.

Dufour, Francesco, and Marco Franzone, Villa Pallavicino delle Peschiere. Genoa: Tormena, 1999.

The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 6th ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2001) p. 114, ill.

Sénéchal, Philippe. "Joseph Méry e Paul Lacroix." In Genova e la Francia: Opere, artisti, committenti, collezionisti. Edited by Piero Boccardo, Clario Di Fabio, and Philippe Sénéchal. Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2003 pp. 270, 275, 281, n. 29, fig. 9.

Allen, Denise, et al. Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Rev. ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, with Thames & Hudson, 2003) pp. 48-49, no. 24, ill., entry by Burton B. Fredericksen.

Elliott, Virgil. Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present (New York: Watson-Guptill, 2007) pp. 162-63, ill.

The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 7th ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007) p. 109, ill.

Schaefer, Scott. "Bolognese Painters and the Problem of Portraiture." In Captured Emotions: Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575-1725, exh. cat. Andreas Henning and Scott Schaefer, eds. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008) p. 40, fig. 1.

Pointon, Marcia. Brilliant Effects: A Cultural History of Gem Stones and Jewellery (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009) pp. 54-56, pls.54, 56.

Navarette Prieto, Benito. "Murillo, Neve and the 'Venerables.'" In Murillo & Justino de Neve: The Art of Friendship, exh. cat. Gabriele Finaldi, ed. (Madrid: Museo Nacional del Prado, 2012) p. 75, fig. 37.

Khelissa, Anne Perrin. Gênes au XVIIIe siècle: Le décor d'un palais (Paris: CTHS - INHA, 2013) pp. 35, 36, 75, 76, fig. 5.

Related Media
  • /
    Audio: Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini