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Lot Essay
This picture, for which there is an unbroken provenance, was commissioned by the Marchese Luigi Sampieri of Bologna, in 1704, as a companion piece to Francesco Albani's Danza degli amorini, of the same format and dimensions but painted on copper (fig. 1, now in the Pinacoteca di Brera; see F. Zeri, op, cit., no. 53). Albani's picture dates from circa 1640, and the choice of Franceschini to paint its pendant more than sixty years later is a clear indication of both his stature as an artist and his role as an upholder of the Bolognese tradition. Franceschini was viewed by many as Albani's successor, and he was the leading exponent of Bolognese Classicism in the early 18th century. Although Albani had no direct contact with the younger artist (he died in 1660, when Franceschini was just twelve years old), it was Albani's most distinguished pupil, Carlo Cignani, who was chiefly responsible for imparting the earlier master's style to the young Franceschini, while the latter was working in his workshop during the 1670s. It was therefore wholly appropriate that the Sampieri family should turn to Franceschini in order to paint the pendant to Danza degli amorini, and it was a commission that the artist clearly relished, judging from this exuberant Triumph of Venus, with its bold use of saturated colours, its precise draughtsmanship and its playful putti.
The provenance of this picture is also noteworthy. Its first owners, the Sampieri, were a noble Bolognese family, whose origins date back to the 14th century. Over the course of several centuries they built up one of the finest patrician collections in the city, housed in the Palazzo Sampieri, and including works by the greatest Bolognese artists of the seicento and settecento. The family fortunes, however, suffered during the Napoleonic era and the Marchese Francesco Sampieri was forced to sell the entire collection in 1811. Many pictures went to the city of Milan (and these, including Albani's Danza degli amorini, now form the core of the Pinacoteca di Brera's group of Bolognese pictures), while a number, including the present work, were acquired by Prince Eugène-Rose de Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson and the Vice-regent of Italy from 1805-14. Based at the Villa Bonaparte in Milan, de Beauharnais was instrumental in establishing a national picture gallery in the city, which saw a rapid expansion during his tenure in office, as well as amassing his own spectacular private collection of paintings. Most unusually he was able to maintain this collection intact even after Napoleon's fall in 1814, thanks to his marriage, in 1807, to Augusta Amelia, the daughter of Maximilian, 1st Elector and King of Bavaria.
Following the collapse of the Napoleoinic kingdom in Italy, de Beauharnais and his wife were welcomed by the Bavarian King in Munich, who bestowed on them the title of Duke and Duchess of Leuchtenberg. They were given the stadtpalais on the Odeonplatz, along with several country estates. Furthermore virtually the entire art collection was shipped from Milan to the new residence in Munich. The collection was catalogued over a number of years, under the auspices of Beauharnais' second son and heir, Maximilian-Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, and numbered 250 pictures in total (see Passavant, op. cit.). Maximilian's marriage proved no less important for the fate of the art collection for after his death in 1852 the entire collection passed to his widow, the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, eldest daughter of Tzar Nicholas I, who moved back to St. Petersburg. The collection was housed at the Marinepalais up until the Revolution of 1917, when it was finally split up. Ninety-three of the pictures were salvaged by Dr. Nyblom, who transported them across the Baltic to Sweden where they formed part of a selling exhibition at Nordiska Kompaniet, a Stockholm department store founded in 1902. Subsequently thirty-nine of the Leuchtenberg pictures, including the present work, were transferred to the Buenos Aires branch of the company from whence they passed into private hands (for a full discussion of this intriguing provenance see D. Miller, 1990, op. cit.).
The provenance of this picture is also noteworthy. Its first owners, the Sampieri, were a noble Bolognese family, whose origins date back to the 14th century. Over the course of several centuries they built up one of the finest patrician collections in the city, housed in the Palazzo Sampieri, and including works by the greatest Bolognese artists of the seicento and settecento. The family fortunes, however, suffered during the Napoleonic era and the Marchese Francesco Sampieri was forced to sell the entire collection in 1811. Many pictures went to the city of Milan (and these, including Albani's Danza degli amorini, now form the core of the Pinacoteca di Brera's group of Bolognese pictures), while a number, including the present work, were acquired by Prince Eugène-Rose de Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson and the Vice-regent of Italy from 1805-14. Based at the Villa Bonaparte in Milan, de Beauharnais was instrumental in establishing a national picture gallery in the city, which saw a rapid expansion during his tenure in office, as well as amassing his own spectacular private collection of paintings. Most unusually he was able to maintain this collection intact even after Napoleon's fall in 1814, thanks to his marriage, in 1807, to Augusta Amelia, the daughter of Maximilian, 1st Elector and King of Bavaria.
Following the collapse of the Napoleoinic kingdom in Italy, de Beauharnais and his wife were welcomed by the Bavarian King in Munich, who bestowed on them the title of Duke and Duchess of Leuchtenberg. They were given the stadtpalais on the Odeonplatz, along with several country estates. Furthermore virtually the entire art collection was shipped from Milan to the new residence in Munich. The collection was catalogued over a number of years, under the auspices of Beauharnais' second son and heir, Maximilian-Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, and numbered 250 pictures in total (see Passavant, op. cit.). Maximilian's marriage proved no less important for the fate of the art collection for after his death in 1852 the entire collection passed to his widow, the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, eldest daughter of Tzar Nicholas I, who moved back to St. Petersburg. The collection was housed at the Marinepalais up until the Revolution of 1917, when it was finally split up. Ninety-three of the pictures were salvaged by Dr. Nyblom, who transported them across the Baltic to Sweden where they formed part of a selling exhibition at Nordiska Kompaniet, a Stockholm department store founded in 1902. Subsequently thirty-nine of the Leuchtenberg pictures, including the present work, were transferred to the Buenos Aires branch of the company from whence they passed into private hands (for a full discussion of this intriguing provenance see D. Miller, 1990, op. cit.).