Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini

Object Details

Title:

Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini

Artist/Maker(s):

Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599 - 1641)

Culture:

Flemish

Date:

about 1621

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

216.2 x 141 cm (85 1/8 x 55 1/2 in.)

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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.

Maddelena Doria, by inheritance to Paolo Francesco Spinola.

Giacomo Spinola di Luccoli

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

- 1732

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

- 1824

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

1841 -

Andrew Wilson, sold to Joseph Hawley.

by 1879 -

Sir Henry James Hawley, fourth Bart., 1815 - 1898 (Brighton, East Sussex, England)

- 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. Winter Exhibition, Sixteenth Year (January 5 to March 14, 1885)
  • Royal Academy of Arts (London), January 5 to March 14, 1885, (Cat.)
Van Dyck exhibition (1900)
  • Royal Academy of Arts (London), 1900, (Cat.)
Walker Art Gallery (1959)
  • Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1959, (Cat.)
The J. Paul Getty Collection (June 29 to September 3, 1972)
  • The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, (Minneapolis), June 29 to September 3, 1972, (Cat. 27)
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, (Cat.)
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, (Cat.)
Van Dyck (March 15 to December 10, 1999)
  • Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, (Antwerp), May 15 to August 15, 1999, (Cat.)
  • Royal Academy of Arts (London), September 11 to December 10, 1999, (Cat.)
Bibliography

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

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.

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

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.

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

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