The Renaissance and 18th century represent the highlights of Venetian painting, and the three top lots of the auction are from that period: St. Barbara by Bartolomeo Vivarini (€ 80/85,000), presumably part of a polyptychon, as well as the modelletto of the ceiling of the Gesuati church by Giambattista Tiepolo (€ 110/120,000, see below), and Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini’s allegory to virtue (€ 30/35,000) – two outstanding examples of Venetian colourism of the Settecento.

Of equal artistic and historic importance is the portrait of Alice More, second wife of the English statesman and philosopher Thomas More, by a follower of Hans Holbein the Younger, that is of high quality and was for a long time considered to be by the artist’s own hand (€ 120/140,000, see left).

The offer of Netherlands’ art begins with a perfectly painted gathering in open air from the second half of the 16th century, attributed to Frans Pourbus the Elder (€ 100/120,000, see above). 17th century painting is an artistic contest between Flanders and Holland: The powerful study of two apostles’ heads by Jacob Jordaens (€ 100/140,000, see left), Jan Brueghel the Elder’s finely detailed Castle Mariemont (€ 130/150,000). Pieter Brueghel, David Teniers the Elder, Frans Francken II and Josse de Momper are further Flemish artists represented in this auction.

The Dutch artists of the 17th century took national pride in painting their homeland’s landscapes, having gained their independence from the catholic south. Therefore, the painting of landscapes became the most widely represented in Dutch art. Numerous outstanding painters are found in this auction, e.g. Meindert Hobbema, Aert van der Neer, Claes Molenaer, Frans de Hulst, Salomon van Ruysdael, Pieter Potter, Hendrik de Meyer, Jan Coelenbier and Johannes Lingelbach.

Highlights of 19th century are a landscape by Gustave Courbet, two Italian vistas by Oswald Achenbach, as well as Franz van Stuck’s portrait of his daughter Mary in Velazquez costume, and Albert von Keller’s fashionable lady in a ballroom.

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On May 7, 1737, Tiepolo signed a contract with the Dominicans of the Cloister of St. Maria del Rosario in which he pledged to decorate the ceiling of the newly erected church “Gesuati” with frescoes. On October 7, 1739 he was paid for his endeavours. The main work of this ensemble, to which further frescoes as well as stuccowork and sculptures belonged, is the “Institution of the Rosary.” Three studies by the hand of the master have been passed down. One was in the collection of the Berlin State Museums and was destroyed during the Second World War. The second belonged to the collector Leonardi in Milan. The third is the present “modeletto,” which of the three turns out to be the last stage before the execution of the ceiling painting. On the basis of these designs it is possible to observe the development to final design. While in the Berlin study Palladian columned architecture was behind St. Dominicus at right, in the Milan study it is moved to the left, whereby the main figure looses importance. Tiepolo solves this problem in the present study by adopting a balustrade which again anchors Dominicus and at the same time lifts him above the figural ground below. On the fresco itself he made a few small changes, such as on the Madonna, the angels and the head posture of the saint.

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