Lot No. 530


Gustaf Wappers


Gustaf Wappers - 19th Century Paintings

(Antwerp 1803–1874 Paris)
Portrait of Luís de Camões and His Leader, signed, dated Gustaf Wappers 1855, oil on canvas, 92 x 112 cm, framed

Provenance:
Commissioned by Max Van den Berg from the artist, 1855;
Collection of Jean-Felix Van den Bergh-Elsen,
Mayor of Antwerp, (1807-1885), Antwerpen;
European Private Collection.

Catalogued and illustrated in:
De Vlaemsche School: tijdschrift voor kunsten, letteren, oudheidkunde en kunstnijverheid, De St. Lukasgilde ed., Antwerp 1855, p. 108; 1830–1880 catalogue illustré de l’exposition historique de l’art belge et du musée moderne de Bruxelles d’après les originaux des artistes, Rodez ed. Bruxelles and L. Baschet ed. Paris, 1880, p. 2 and 144, no. 946.

Exhibited:
Antwerp, De Vlaemsche School, de Dryjaerlijksche tentoonstelling van Schoone kunsten, 1855; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Exposition historique de l’art belge, 1830–1880 - Peinture, sculpture and aquarelles, room 9, 1880.

Luís de Camões (known as Camoëns or Camoens) lived by the motto “a sword in one hand, and a pen in the other” while composing his great verse epic. Os Lusíadas, the Lusiads, which was first published in 1572 and is the Portuguese national poem par excellence. It celebrates the great Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1469–1524), who brought fame and fortune to the country. Portugal Day is celebrated annually on 10 June, commemorating the death on 10 June 1580 of Luis de Camoens, a poet and national literary icon.
He suffered a lot of hardship during his life, losing his left eye during combat in Morocco, before, a few years later, he stabbed a courtier in a brawl, was jailed, fined, and then shipped out to India as a common soldier. Later, posted to Macau, he became the official imperial “Trustee for the Dead and Absent”, an ideal job for a specialist in lament. He was soon fired for embezzlement and booted out, only to have his ship sink at the mouth of the Mekong River; he swam ashore clutching the manuscript of his epic poem in progress. Jailed again, this time in Goa, he finally made it to Mozambique, stranded and penniless. When at long last he returned to Lisbon, in 1570, plague was ravaging the city.
Camoens is a romantic figure par excellence like Shakespeare, Dante and Virgil. Wappers must have engaged with this subject for some time, as there is another, larger painting showing Camoens with two girls, held by the Belgian Royal Collection.
In the present lot, Camoens holds a manuscript which could be his masterpiece “the Lusiads”, and a sword (an object which is often associated with him). He is frequently depicted with one eye as he lost the other one in the war. In this composition, he is shown in an idealized form, as if the injury had never occurred.

Specialist: Gautier Gendebien Gautier Gendebien
+39-334-777 1603

Gautier.Gendebien@dorotheum.it

07.06.2021 - 16:00

Realized price: **
EUR 20,300.-
Estimate:
EUR 16,000.- to EUR 20,000.-

Gustaf Wappers


(Antwerp 1803–1874 Paris)
Portrait of Luís de Camões and His Leader, signed, dated Gustaf Wappers 1855, oil on canvas, 92 x 112 cm, framed

Provenance:
Commissioned by Max Van den Berg from the artist, 1855;
Collection of Jean-Felix Van den Bergh-Elsen,
Mayor of Antwerp, (1807-1885), Antwerpen;
European Private Collection.

Catalogued and illustrated in:
De Vlaemsche School: tijdschrift voor kunsten, letteren, oudheidkunde en kunstnijverheid, De St. Lukasgilde ed., Antwerp 1855, p. 108; 1830–1880 catalogue illustré de l’exposition historique de l’art belge et du musée moderne de Bruxelles d’après les originaux des artistes, Rodez ed. Bruxelles and L. Baschet ed. Paris, 1880, p. 2 and 144, no. 946.

Exhibited:
Antwerp, De Vlaemsche School, de Dryjaerlijksche tentoonstelling van Schoone kunsten, 1855; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Exposition historique de l’art belge, 1830–1880 - Peinture, sculpture and aquarelles, room 9, 1880.

Luís de Camões (known as Camoëns or Camoens) lived by the motto “a sword in one hand, and a pen in the other” while composing his great verse epic. Os Lusíadas, the Lusiads, which was first published in 1572 and is the Portuguese national poem par excellence. It celebrates the great Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1469–1524), who brought fame and fortune to the country. Portugal Day is celebrated annually on 10 June, commemorating the death on 10 June 1580 of Luis de Camoens, a poet and national literary icon.
He suffered a lot of hardship during his life, losing his left eye during combat in Morocco, before, a few years later, he stabbed a courtier in a brawl, was jailed, fined, and then shipped out to India as a common soldier. Later, posted to Macau, he became the official imperial “Trustee for the Dead and Absent”, an ideal job for a specialist in lament. He was soon fired for embezzlement and booted out, only to have his ship sink at the mouth of the Mekong River; he swam ashore clutching the manuscript of his epic poem in progress. Jailed again, this time in Goa, he finally made it to Mozambique, stranded and penniless. When at long last he returned to Lisbon, in 1570, plague was ravaging the city.
Camoens is a romantic figure par excellence like Shakespeare, Dante and Virgil. Wappers must have engaged with this subject for some time, as there is another, larger painting showing Camoens with two girls, held by the Belgian Royal Collection.
In the present lot, Camoens holds a manuscript which could be his masterpiece “the Lusiads”, and a sword (an object which is often associated with him). He is frequently depicted with one eye as he lost the other one in the war. In this composition, he is shown in an idealized form, as if the injury had never occurred.

Specialist: Gautier Gendebien Gautier Gendebien
+39-334-777 1603

Gautier.Gendebien@dorotheum.it


Buyers hotline Mon.-Fri.: 10.00am - 5.00pm
kundendienst@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 200
Auction: 19th Century Paintings
Auction type: Saleroom auction with Live Bidding
Date: 07.06.2021 - 16:00
Location: Vienna | Palais Dorotheum
Exhibition: 29.05. - 07.06.2021


** Purchase price incl. charges and taxes

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