Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg

Pope Pius VII (1742–1823), by whom gifted to

Colonel Bernard Eugène Rottiers (1771–1857), Belgium;

Lord Charles Townshend (1785–1853), by 1850;

Dr Anderson;

Henri Louis Bischoffsheim (1829–1908);

His sale, London, Christie's, 7 May 1926, lot 32, 65 guineas to Goldschmidt;

Anonymous sale ('The Property of Ralph Vicars'), London, Christie's, 25 February 1949, lot 111, 30 guineas to Arcade Galleries;

With Arcade Galleries, London;

Anonymous sale ('The Property of Miss D.E. Bramhall'), London, Christie's, 15 June 1956, lot 147, for 190 guineas to Drey;

With Drey, London;

Anonymous sale, London, Replica Shoes 's, 18 November 1959, lot 77, £300 to Vaughan;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's South Kensington, 17 June 2015, lot 25;

Where acquired by the current owner.

A. Wurzbach, Niederländisches Künstlerlexikon, Amsterdam 1906, vol. 1, p. 486;

A. Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813–1912, London 1913, vol. 1, p. 321.

Dated 1665, this painting is an early and important view of the interior of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Its importance lies in its depiction of many of the architectural and decorative achievements of one of the titans of Italian baroque art, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680).

This monumental canvas provides a view straight down the nave of the Basilica. It captures all of the intricate details of the architectural mouldings, gilded ceiling bosses, and painted altarpieces (many of which were replaced with mosaics in the next century). Notably, the painting features Bernini’s 29-meter-high Baldachin, which was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII and remains one of the artist's most important architectural and sculptural works. Consisting of a sculpted bronze canopy, this addition to the basilica's interior was inaugurated on 29 June 1633 only a few decades before this painting was executed.

The inscription at the lower edge of the canvas records that this painting is based on precise measurements, and is accompanied by a scale which is measured in roman feet (1 roman foot = circa 29.6 cm.). This unusual feature was no doubt intended to emphasise the grandeur of this important architectural interior.

When this painting was sold in 2015 it was suggested that the figures were probably painted by Charles Emmanuel Biset (1633–1710), a known collaborator of Van Ehrenberg.

Note on Provenance

This painting is said to have been in the collection of Pope Pius VII (1742–1823), the pontiff who famously defied Napoleon and was for a time imprisoned in France. A keen supporter of archaeological excavations, it is possible that Pope Pius gifted this painting to Colonel Bernard Eugène Rottiers due to their mutual interest in the financing of archaeological excavations and the collection of antiquities. Rottiers's collection of antiquities is now part of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden. The painting then entered the collection of Lord Charles Townshend, who is listed at the owner of the picture when it was exhibited in 1850 (see under Exhibited).