Čís. položky 103


Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio


Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio - Obrazy starých mistrů

(Seville 1644–1695 Madrid)
A young shepherd,
oil on canvas, 131 x 99.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Mrs. Platt, 18 Sherwood Road, Didcot, Berkshire (according to a label on the reverse);
her sale, Sotheby’s, London (according to a label on the reverse);
Private collection, Spain;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Enrique Valdivieso for confirming the attribution of the present painting and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

A young boy is represented on a stone ledge, on the ground beside him there is a lamb with its legs bound, which will probably be brought to sell to market. The intensity of the boy’s gaze is notable: his expression communicates both understanding and sincerity and reveals his need to make a profit from selling the animal so that he may survive. At his feet there is a basket in which some chicks make out, thus strengthen his identification as a seller of livestock. The dark landscape background is characterised by two brute tree trunks silhouetted against deep blue dawn sky.

The youth is of a physical type typically represented by Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio. This painting can be compared to a pair of signed paintings by the artist preserved in the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester. These represent respectively Two boys feeding a beggar (inv. no. LF25.1949.0.0) and Two Boys playing Pitch and Toss (inv. no. LF8.1950.0.0). All these paintings are of similar format and are distinctive for their representation of figures similar to the present shepherd-boy; they are likewise all humbly dressed. Moreover, a similar pictorial technique is also deployed to describe the folds of the boys’ old shirt and trousers and the style of describing anatomical details like their hands and feet is also comparable.

Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio was born of an aristocratic family at Seville in the seventeenth century and he was educated for a military career. However, he chose instead to become a painter, and trained with Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) with whom he formed a life-long friendship and by whom he was remembered in the master’s final will and testament. Subsequently he travelled to Malta where he met Mattia Preti. The influence of these masters shaped his own distinctive creative identity. On his return to Spain he predominantly produced portraits and religious works, and like Murillo, pictures of children. During the seventeenth century such genre depictions of children were a frequent subject among artists, particularly in southern Spain.

Expert: Mark MacDonnell Mark MacDonnell
+43 1 515 60 403

oldmasters@dorotheum.com

09.06.2020 - 16:00

Odhadní cena:
EUR 30.000,- do EUR 40.000,-

Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio


(Seville 1644–1695 Madrid)
A young shepherd,
oil on canvas, 131 x 99.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Mrs. Platt, 18 Sherwood Road, Didcot, Berkshire (according to a label on the reverse);
her sale, Sotheby’s, London (according to a label on the reverse);
Private collection, Spain;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Enrique Valdivieso for confirming the attribution of the present painting and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

A young boy is represented on a stone ledge, on the ground beside him there is a lamb with its legs bound, which will probably be brought to sell to market. The intensity of the boy’s gaze is notable: his expression communicates both understanding and sincerity and reveals his need to make a profit from selling the animal so that he may survive. At his feet there is a basket in which some chicks make out, thus strengthen his identification as a seller of livestock. The dark landscape background is characterised by two brute tree trunks silhouetted against deep blue dawn sky.

The youth is of a physical type typically represented by Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio. This painting can be compared to a pair of signed paintings by the artist preserved in the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester. These represent respectively Two boys feeding a beggar (inv. no. LF25.1949.0.0) and Two Boys playing Pitch and Toss (inv. no. LF8.1950.0.0). All these paintings are of similar format and are distinctive for their representation of figures similar to the present shepherd-boy; they are likewise all humbly dressed. Moreover, a similar pictorial technique is also deployed to describe the folds of the boys’ old shirt and trousers and the style of describing anatomical details like their hands and feet is also comparable.

Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio was born of an aristocratic family at Seville in the seventeenth century and he was educated for a military career. However, he chose instead to become a painter, and trained with Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) with whom he formed a life-long friendship and by whom he was remembered in the master’s final will and testament. Subsequently he travelled to Malta where he met Mattia Preti. The influence of these masters shaped his own distinctive creative identity. On his return to Spain he predominantly produced portraits and religious works, and like Murillo, pictures of children. During the seventeenth century such genre depictions of children were a frequent subject among artists, particularly in southern Spain.

Expert: Mark MacDonnell Mark MacDonnell
+43 1 515 60 403

oldmasters@dorotheum.com


Horká linka kupujících Po-Pá: 10.00 - 17.00
old.masters@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 403
Aukce: Obrazy starých mistrů
Typ aukce: Salónní aukce
Datum: 09.06.2020 - 16:00
Místo konání aukce: Wien | Palais Dorotheum
Prohlídka: 02.06. - 09.06.2020