LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

39.72 in. (100.90 cm.) (height) by 53.23 in. (135.20 cm.) (width)

Markings:

inscribed 'NOBMA. ROMANA ST PAVOLA IM- BARCHI PER GIERVSALEMME' (lower centre)

Condition:

in an English mid-18th century carved and gilded frame with pierced scallopshell cartouche centres

Exhibited:

London, Royal Academy, Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, Winter Exhibition, 1882, no. 149, as Claude, The Pilgrimage of St. Paula (lent by The Earl of Portarlington).

Literature:

M. Kitson, Claude Lorrain, Liber Veritatis, London, 1978, pp. xxxxx, no. 120.M. Röthlisberger, Claude Lorrain. The Paintings, London, 1961 and New York, 1979, I, pp. 297-9, under no. LV120, erroneously as a version after the picture in the Musée des Vosges in Epinal, partly splitting the picture across two entries, no. 2 and 3.M. Wood, John Fowler, Prince of Decorators, London, 2007, p. 158.Mme. M. Pattison, Claude Lorrain. Sa vie et ses oeuvres, Paris, 1884, p. 233 (unnumbered).M. Rothlisberger, Claude Lorrain. The Paintings, London, 1961 and New York, 1979, I, pp. 297-9, under no. LV 120, erroneously as a version after the picture in the Musée des Vosges in Épinal, partly splitting the picture across two entries, no. 2 and 3.M. Wood, John Fowler, Prince of Decorators, London, 2007, p. 158.

Provenance:

Commissioned by Cardinal Domenico Cecchini (1589-1656), Rome.(Presumably) Louis-François de Bourbon, prince de Conti (1716-1776), after 1757; his anonymous sale (†), (‘Catalogue d’une Collection Précieuse de Tableaux et Dessins de Meilleurs Maîtres de Trois Écoles..’) Paris, 15 March ff. 1779, lot 53, ‘Cl. Gelée, dit Le Lorrain. Un Tableau précieux & bien conservé, de ce Maître. Il représente le Perystile d’un Palais au bord de la mer, & quantité de figures qui paroissent disposer l’embarquement d’une femme que l’on voit au milieu, & entre les mains de laquelle on remarque un chapelet. Ce morceau riche de composition offre une mer étendue, sur laquelle se réfléchit le soleil levant. Le fonds est terminé par des lointains & un beau Ciel, sur lesquels se détache une tour environné de vaisseaux; & la gauche du Tableau est occupée par des rochers garnis de tousses d’arbes. Hauteur, 3 pieds 3 pouces; largeur, 4 pieds 7 pouces. T.’ (920 livres).(Presumably) either John Damer, 1st Earl of Portarlington (1744-1798), Emo Park, or Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester (d. 1798), Milton Abbey, and by inheritance toHenry Dawson-Damer, 3rd Earl of Portarlington (1822-1889), Emo Park, County Leix.William Henry Smith, M.P. (1825-1891), or his son, William Frederick Danvers (1868-1928), 2nd Viscount Hambleden, and by descent to the present owner.