Pierre Subleyras

Private collection, Rome;

Anonymous sale, Rome, Christie's, 9 December 1997, lot 401 (as circle of Sebastiano Ceccarini, with the corners overpainted);

With Gianni Minozzi Antichità, Milan, 2005;

Acquired subsequently by the present owner.

N .Lesur, 'Une diffusion italienne de Watteau: le cas de Carlo Spiridione Mariotti (1726–1790)', in "L'univers de Watteau". Réseaux et influences autour d'Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), A. Moulinier (ed.), Paris 2022, p. 221;

N. Lesur, Pierre Subleyras, 1699–1749, Paris 2023, pp. 120, 145 and 405–406, no. 443P, reproduced in colour.

Painted in Rome in 1748, a year before Subleyras' death, this elegant portrait is an outstanding example of the artist's mature œuvre. The refined treatment of precious fabrics, the luminous handling of pearls, and the softly polished modelling of the rosy flesh tones rank among the artist’s finest achievements.

The sitter, depicted against a neutral background within a painted oval, meets the viewer’s gaze with a poised and confident expression. She is sumptuously attired in a white silk gown with delicate lace-trimmed sleeves and décolletage. The richness of her costume is further accentuated by gold and polychrome passementerie, which embellishes her sleeves, fitted bodice, and voluminous skirt. The ensemble is accessorised with jewellery of exceptional refinement: a set of silver brooches encrusted with pearls and precious stones, a pearl necklace and bracelet, and large teardrop earrings. Her right hand lightly holds a fan, while her left, resting on the back of a velvet fauteuil, clasps a portrait miniature depicting a half-length male figure, identifiable as her betrothed or husband.

In his recently published catalogue raisonné on the artist, Nicolas Lesur suggests identifying the sitter with Maria Vittoria Corsini (1732–1797), daughter of Filippo Corsini, Prince of Sismano, and Ottavia Strozzi. In 1747, she married Livio II Odescalchi (1725–1805), who is plausibly represented in the miniature she is holding. While there are no other known likenesses of the sitter, it is likely that Subleryas was acquainted with her, as his brother-in-law, Giuseppe Zarlatti, is recorded from 1748 as maestro di casa to the newly wed couple.

Although born in Saint-Gilles and trained in Toulouse and Paris, Subleyras spent almost his entire career in Italy after winning the Prix de Rome in 1727, where he continued his formation at the Académie de France in Rome. There he entered the cosmopolitan milieu of the papal city, where he remained for the rest of his life, achieving notable success both as a portraitist and as a painter of major altarpieces for religious orders and distinguished members of the European aristocracy. 

A drawing of this portrait, attributed to Subleyras' pupil, Carlo Spiridione Mariotti (1726–1790), is in the Assemblea Legislativa, Perugia.¹ Furthermore, the sitter's pose is near-identical to that in another, smaller portrait of a lady (previously thought to depict the miniaturist Virginia Parker Hunt) in the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna, dated by Lesur to circa 1747.²

¹ Lesur 2023, pp. 405–406, under no. 443P, no. 443C.1.

² Lesur 2023, p. 405, no. 442P, reproduced; https://www.flickr.com/photos/beauharnais/53621699865/