(Bologna 1581–1641 Naples)
Portrait of Cardinal Jean de Bonsi, Bishop of Béziers,inscribed: A’Ill’o et… Le Cardinal Bonsj La Il di Nro Sign.,
oil on canvas, 109.1 x 80.8 cm, framed

Provenance:
Sigmund Bubics (1821–1909), auxiliary bishop of Kaschau;
Osborn Kling (1874–1935), Stockholm;
Anonymous sale, Christie’s, London, 28 June 1935, lot 18 (as Domenichino);
Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, London, 6 December 1967, lot 9 (as Domenichino);
With Rahmenkunst “Pro Arte”, Bern, 1968;
Anonymous sale Koller, Zürich, 11/12 November 1981, lot 5216 (as Domenichino or his immediate circle);
Anonymous sale Christie´s, London 4 December 2013, lot 167 (as Studio of Domenichino)

Literature:
J. Pope-Hennessy, The Drawings of Domenichino in the Collection of His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle, London, 1948, p. 98, under no. 1129;
R.E. Spear, Domenichino, New Haven and London, 1982, p. 187, no. 46b;
R.B. Simon, Important old master paintings: discoveries ... in una nuova luce, Piero Corsini, New York, N.Y, 1988, p. 62, n. 13, fig. 7

We are grateful to Richard Spear and Sylvain Kerspern, for their assistance in cataloguing the present painting.

Various opinions have been expressed about the authorship of this painting in the course of art historical analysis and publications. Whilst Wilhelm Suida in a written expertise in 1934 (according to Spear 1982, p. 187) declared the painting an autograph work by Domenichino, Hermann Voss had in 1928 related the painting to Domenichino, but had doubted the authorship of the master, a view he maintained in 1968 (according to Spear 1982, p. 187, n. 2).

John Pope-Hennessy in The Drawings of Domenichino in the Collection of His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle, London, 1949, p. 98., under no. 1129, may have implied that the present painting is an autograph replica after the first version, Musée Fabre, Montpellier (a “version”).

Richard Spear believes that the present painting is a good contemporary copy, which may have been produced in Domenichino´s studio, based on the version now in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier (see fig. 2). Spear upholds his opinion published in 1982: ’Without a chance to see the paintings together, I’d not venture to change what I thought before, although when I said it’s a good ‘600 copy, that’d not preclude a copy from Domenichino’s studio’ (correspondence, 2014).

In Sylvain Kerspern’s opinion, the painting was executed in Domenichino’s workshop. Kerspern also supplied important information regarding the coat of arms that has been revealed during the painting’s examination with X-ray photography (see fig. 2).

Giovanni Battista Bonsi, Cardinal de’ Bonsi (1554–1621), was a Florentine nobleman and the son of Domenico Bonsi, minister for the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Jean de Bonsi graduated from the University of Padua as a lawyer and in 1611 was appointed cardinal by Pope Paul V Farnese, who assigned to him the titular church of San Clemente in Rome. He had been bishop of Béziers since 1598. The red hat, symbol of his cardinalate, was presented by Louis XIII in Paris. Bonsi was a skilful diplomat who sought to reach a compromise between his native Tuscany and the Papal States, acting as an arbiter between Pope Clement VIII and Francesco de’ Medici.

Moreover, Bonsi had organised the important marriage between Maria de’ Medici and King Henry IV of France. At the French court, he held the highest clerical offices and was appointed personal chaplain to the king and almoner to the queen. Returningto Rome in 1615, Bonsi worked for the Holy Office; Galileo Galilee recorded in his memoirs that he had found him to be an understanding partner for his case. In 1620, Bonsi represented the interests of France on an important occasion when he tried to enforce Richelieu’s appointment as cardinal. In the conclave of 1621, heading the French faction, he was involved in the election of Gregory XV. He died in 1621 an important diplomat of the Papal States who had succeeded in accumulating substantial wealth. The fact that Bonsi was active in both Paris and Rome and also played an important role in his own diocese makes it plausible that several versions of his portrait were commissioned, the first of which is likely to have been painted in 1615, shortly after his return to Rome.

The portrait in the Musée Fabre, which is generally regarded as the primary version, does not appear to bear the cardinal’s coat of arms, which does however appear in the present version, although it has been overpainted and was only recently revealed through X-ray photography (fig. 2). In a further version, now in Attingham Park, England (fig. 3), which is regarded as a later copy, the coat of arms is included on the knob of the armchair, a detail reminiscent of Raphael’s portrait of Julius II.

Additional pictures
1) X-ray image © ]a[ NTK 2013 Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. M. Schreiner
2) X-ray image, detail
3) a variant of the present portrait: Attingham Park, England 
4) a variant of the present portrait: Musée Fabre, Montpellier
5) study by Domenichino, c. 1615, Windsor Castle, P.-H. no. 1127