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Description

Follower of Frans Pourbus the Younger Portrait of a noblewoman, said to be Helena de Sonzogni, standing three-quarter length, in a white, floral and gold decorated dress, beside a table, before a red curtaininscribed 'HELENA / FILIA SPECTABILIS / D[O]NI IVLIJ DE SONZONIO / VXOR / INTEGER[MI] D[O]NI IOSEPH / DE MALVETIJS / 1615' (upper left) and charged with a coat of arms of the Malvezzi of Verona impaling the Sonzogni, surmounted with a coronetoil on canvas117.5 x 84cmProvenance:According to a label on the reverse, Frederick, 4th Marquess of Londonderry (1805-1872) by 1858, whose wife, Lady Elizabeth Frances Charlotte Jocelyn (1813-1884) was widow of Richard, 6th Viscount Powerscourt (1815-1844), Her son, Mervyn, 7th Viscount Powerscourt (1836-1904),By descent at Powerscourt House, County Wicklow, Ireland, when sold with the house and some contents to Ralph Slazenger in 1961,At Powerscourt until their sale on the premises, Christie's, 24th and 25th September 1984, lot 4, as 'Follower of Frans Pourbus'Literature:Mervyn, 7th Viscount Powerscourt, A Description and History of Powerscourt, 1903, p. 26, as in the Library as 'Coello', where said to be from the Bernal collection (see Note).According to the Powerscourt guide in 1903 (see Literature) this portrait came from the collection of Ralph Bernal, sold at Christie's, London, on 5th March-30th April 1855. Though it is recorded that the 4th Marquess of Londonderry (see Provenance) was buying paintings at that sale, the catalogue description for lot 898 (8th day of sale) which is the only possible candidate, does not quite correspond with the present portrait; further, lot 898 in the Bernal sale is recorded as having been purchased by a Francis Barchard Esq., and not by Lord Londonderry, as are other lots in the sale. It would seem probable, therefore, that the 7th Viscount Powerscourt in his guide of 1903 assumed his stepfather had purchased this portrait at the 1855 Bernal sale. The sitter in the present portrait is presumably a daughter of Giulio de Sonzogni. Her family, Sonzogni, originated in Zogno in the Brembana Valley in Lombardy. According to the inscription, the sitter married Giuseppe Malvezzi, a member of an ancient noble family from Verona. However, the painter of this picture has reversed the arms as the husband should occupy the dexter side of the shield and the wife, the sinister. From the date and the style of the portrait, it can perhaps be assumed that it was painted in Mantua by a resident artist influenced by Frans Pourbus the Younger who had been court painter to the Gonzaga family there from 1600 to 1609. From this we can presume the sitter was herself at the Gonzaga court in Mantua, where she almost certainly would have met her husband from nearby Verona.We are grateful to Dr Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, Senior Research Scholar at Centro de Humanidades, Zurich & Lisbon, and Alan Chamberlain for their assistance with this catalogue entry.The painting is executed in oil on a canvas support which has been lined. The lining canvas is very fine compared to the original support and is now starting to fail along the edges with small tears forming. Overall, the canvas tension is adequate and the picture is in plane. The paint layers are stable and secure. Despite being lined, areas of impasto are crisp and well defined. There are a few old losses located in the dress. Small areas of overpaint are scattered across the surface and are reasonably matched to the original. The varnish is yellowed and dull with a layer of surface dirt present.Framed 132 x 98.5cm

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