(Bologna circa 1710–1779)
Portrait of Count János Bernard István Pálffy ab Erdöd (1664–1751), half-length, in armour with a red sash and wearing the Order of Saint Stephen,
inscribed on the reverse: Mons. Belmonte / MS 1945,
oil on canvas, oval, 81.5 x 62 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Marco Riccòmini for confirming the attribution and for his help in cataloguing the present lot.

Also known with the German name Johann Bernhard Stephan Pálffy ab Erdöd, the sitter was an Austrian General of Hungarian descent, who spent his entire life in the military, in the service of the Habsburgs. He attained the rank of Field Marshal of the imperial army and Palatine of Hungary. He became Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and also of the religious and military Order of Saint Stephen. This last decoration is worn by the General in the present painting: it is the red cross with eight points, symbol of the religious and chivalrous order founded in 1561, which was exclusively given by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

It is possible to identify the sitter by comparing the present painting with another portrait in full-length of General Pálffy, which was painted by Luigi Crespi’s father, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, also known as Spagnoletto (Bologna 1665–1747), conserved in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden (inv. no. 403).

The present, unpublished, painting constitutes an important addition to the oeuvre of Luigi Crespi, pertaining to his earlier career. The picture is executed in a manner very similar to his father’s style of painting and is also typical of the subjects he portrayed. The young Crespi in the present work was clearly inspired by his father’s full-length portrait to execute his own, to which he added the Order of Saint Stephen on the sitter’s chest. The elder Crespi was active at the court of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany between 1706 and 1709 under the Gran Principe Ferdinando Maria de’ Medici (Florence 1663–1713).