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| Image | Sale date | Auction house | Location | Sale name | Lot No. | Estimate | Price Sold | Condition | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 4, 2019 | Bonhams | London | Old Master Paintings | 62 | $****** - ****** | The Tiber, Rome, with the Castel Sant"Angelo and Saint Peter"s basilica in the distance |
paintings
105.6 x 187.4 cm (41.57 x 73.78 in)
oil on canvas
signed and dated "**nier de Lacroix/ 1750" (on riverbank, lower left)
The Collection of James Christie, The Manor House, Framingham Pigot, Norwich, by whose descendants sold
Sale Christie"s, London, 20 March 1959, lot 51 (sold for 2,600 gns)
With Frost and Reed, London
Sale, Christie"s, 26 June 1964, lot 17 (£7,000 to Agnew"s)
The Collection of Sir John Musker and the Directors of Cater Ryder and Co. Ltd., by whom offered
Sale, Christie"s, London, 5 December 1969, lot 86 (sold for £10,000)
With Agnew"s, London, where purchased by the present owner"s family
Whilst Charles François Grenier de Lacroix, or Lacroix de Marseilles, is best known for his architectural capricci and fantasy landscapes, the present painting is a rare example of his topographical painting on an impressive scale. Other examples of such views to have appeared on the market include various depictions of Vesuvius, Tivoli and Civitavecchia.
Very little is known of Charles François Grenier de Lacroix"s early life in France, but he was certainly in Rome by 1750, the year of the present painting, when he met the Marquis de Vandières, who was travelling in the company of Charles Nicolas Cochin and the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot. Here he joined his compatriot, Claude Joseph Vernet, who was already well established in the Eternal City. Lacroix presumably worked very closely with Vernet, as the following year he was able to complete four precise copies after Vernet, which now hang at Uppark House, West Sussex (accession no.s. 138297.1-4). Two years later, Vernet was summoned back to France, by royal command, to begin work on his series of the Ports of France. Lacroix, known in Italy as "Della Croce", seems to have remained in Rome for some time afterwards, establishing himself as a successful painter of capriccio landscapes. He returned to Paris by 1776, the year in which he exhibited at the Salon du Colisée. Later, between 1780 and 1782 he participated in the Salon de la Correspondance, which served as an alternative to the Salons of the official Academy, of which Lacroix was not a member.
The present view of The Tiber, Rome, with the Castel Sant"Angelo and Saint Peter"s basilica in the distance was painted in 1750, the most probable year of Lacroix"s arrival in Rome. In his choice of subject, Lacroix was following in the footsteps of many visiting artists. Taken from the South bank of the Tiber, this particular section of the river had already proved popular with many view-painters active in the city. Gaspar Van Wittel, known as Vanvitelli, treated this subject many times from the 1680s onwards, Isaac de Moucheron sketched and painted it on various occasions during his brief stay in the 1690s as did Hendrik Frans van Lint in the 1720s and "30s. In the same year as the present View of the Tiber , Claude Joseph Vernet also executed his expansive Sporting Contest on the Tiber , now in the National Gallery, London (NG236).
The view is dominated by the monumental fortress the Castel Sant"Angelo, initially constructed as a mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his family but later fortified by the Papal authorities. Depicted atop the Castel Sant"Angelo is the marble figure of the archangel Michael by Raffaello Montelupo which was soon to be replaced by a bronze statue of the same subject, by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, just three years after completion of the present painting. In the centre of the composition, leading towards the Castel Sant"Angelo and spanning the Tiber, is the Ponte Sant"Angelo originally the Roman Aelian bridge. One of the last important commissions for Bernini from Pope Clement IX were the ten over life-size marble angels holding the instruments of the Passion which were to line the bridge. Bernini only completed two - the Angel with the Superscription "I.N.R.I." and the Angel with the Crown of Thorn s, At the time of Lacroix"s present view of the Tiber, the bridge provided the only access to the Vatican from central Rome and so became the central point for pilgrims bound for Saint Peter"s. Indeed, in this painting, Lacroix has depicted many figures making their way, on horseback and on foot, across the bridge. Rising up beyond the Ponte Sant"Angelo are the various buildings of the Vatican, which are dominated by the Basilica of Saint Peter"s. Despite "never being more shock"d in my life" at some of rituals he witnessed in Rome, Dr. Edward Thomas, travelling through Italy during 1750-51, wrote to the antiquary Dr, Jeremiah Miles that "There is a grandeur, a dignity, and a taste in it, far beyond all the cities I ever beheld..... were I to be gratified in a wish to see anything under Heaven, it should be to see Rome.....I believe St. Peter"s Church to be the most beautiful fabric that ever was built on the globe". To the left of the basilica it is also possible to see the lantern and façade of the Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia. The elegant figures waiting to board a ferry in the foreground are standing on the small landing area before buildings from the district of Tor di Nona with the curved wall of the Teatro Apollo just visible at the far left.
Sold in 1959 by a direct descendent of James Christie (1730-1803), founder of Christie"s auction house in 1766, the present painting hung at the Manor House, Framingham Pigot which had been home to the Christie family since 1863 when it was built by George Henry Christie. Since its last outing on the market 50 years ago, the present painting has remained in private hands.
We are grateful to Jean-Luc Ryaux for confirming the attribution to Lacroix de Marseille, on the basis of a colour photograph.
Charles François Grenier Lacroix, called Lacroix de Marseilles (Paris 1700-1782 Berlin)
The Tiber, Rome, with the Castel Sant"Angelo and Saint Peter"s basilica in the distance
signed and dated "**nier de Lacroix/ 1750" (on riverbank, lower left)
oil on canvas
105.6 x 187.4cm (41 9/16 x 73 3/4in).
