| < Return to index Provenance Inherited by the Duke Leopold Joseph 1 of Lorraine (Probably) offered for sale in London by Count Giacomo Querini in 1715-16, where it remained unsold Giovanni Battista Santi Rota, Venice, agent of the Duke of Lorraine Count Matthias van Schulenburg, who housed his collection in his Venetian residence, the Palazzo Loredan By descent, von Schulenburg collection, Berlin Alice Binion, "From Schulenburgs Gallery and Records," The Burlington Magazine no. 806, May 1970, p. 297 Lettere e altri documenti inforno alla storia della pittura , raccolte di quadri a Mantova nel sei-settecento, ed. U. Meroni, Monzambano, 1979, pp. 55-60 R. Pallucchini, La pittura vaneziana del seicento, Milan, 1981, vol. I, p. 316 M. Roethlisberger-Bianco, Cavalier Tempesta and his Time, University of Delaware Press, Delaware, 1970, pp. 90-92 and ill. 74-85. |
| | Old Master Paintings & Drawings IV |
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| Ship in a Storm off a Rocky Coast Oil on canvas (Inventory numbers 81 in white and 208 in red on back of stretcher) 76 x 50 1/8 inches (193 x 127.2 cm) | |
The Present painting, once part of a pair, is a rare recorded example of van Plattenberg's work in Italy, interesting both for its artistic influence and as an example of the taste of Duke Ferdinando Carlo. The death of Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, in 1708, allowed for the dispersal of one of Europe's richest art collections. The pictures had been assembled in the Palazzo Michiel alle Colonne, Venice, from various Mantuan ducal residences at the time of the Duke's forced abandonment of them, at which time the inventories were taken. Subsequently, the Gonzaga inheritance was claimed successfully by the Duke of Lorraine, though a smaller number was divided amongst the Princess of Salm, the Princess of Condé, and the Princess of Hanover. Count Querini, agent of the Duke of Lorraine, tried, unsuccessfully, to sell a number of pictures in London, of which this is thought to be one, and was forced to take them back to Venice. The lawyer Giovanni Battista Rota, who also acted as agent of the Duke of Lorraine, subsequently seems to have owned outright a number of these pictures, including the two van Plattenbergs. Santi Rota twice borrowed money from Count Matthias von Schulenburg using Gonzaga pictures as collateral, and thus the Count was able to acquire in lieu of payment a number of these paintings as a nucleus of an important collection of his own. This collection, carefully inventoried, was bequeathed to his nephews and our picture has remained in their family in Berlin until now. At one time, a question existed over whether "Montagna" referred to the well-documented master of seascapes Matthieu van Plattenberg or, as Pallucchini had incorrectly surmised, the otherwise unknown painter Renaud de la Montagne. However, the matter was resolved, and comparison with other paintings published definitively as van Plattenberg by Roethlisberger show our picture to certainly be by the same hand. As the numerous inventory references of our pictures always refer to "Montagna," it reconfirms independently that "Montagna" is indeed van Plattenberg and not the still unknown Renaud de la Montagne. | ||