Provenance

Possibly Étienne-François, duc de Choiseul [1719-1785], Château de Chanteloup, Touraine and/or Paris; (sale, Paris, 12 December 1787, no. 101).[1] Possibly Hubert Robert [1733-1808], Paris;[2] his wife, Anne-Gabrielle Soos [1745-1821], Paris; (sale, Paris, 16-17 November 1821, no. 55).[3] William Lowther, 2d earl of Lonsdale [1787-1872], London; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 18 June 1887, no. 912).[4] Algernon George De Vere, 8th earl of Essex [1884-1966], Cassiobury, Hertfordshire; (sale, Knight, Frank & Rutley, London, 6 July 1923, no. 257).[5] (Sackville Gallery, London, 1924).[6] Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi [1878-1955], Rome and Florence; his heirs. M. Friedenberg; sold 28 November 1967 to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, London);[7] purchased 1968 by NGA.
[1] Suite et Supplément au Catalogue de M. Le Duc de Ch***, Paris, 1787: no. 101(bis): "J. P. Panini: Deux Tableaux de la plus riche composition: l'un représente l'intérieur de Saint-Pierre de Rome pris dans son point de vue le plus favorable & le plus heureux pour les effets de lumiere; il effet orné de figures distribuées avec art: le second Tableau offre la vue entiere de la place Saint Pierre & toute la face de ce temple fameux. Cet Artiste savant ne pouvoit choisir un lieu plus magnifique & plus spacieux pour y représenter l'entrée cérémoniale de M. le Duc de Choiseul lors de son ambassade à Rome....Hauteur 5 pieds 3 pouces, largeur 6 pieds 10 pouces. T. Ils ont fait partie de la Collection de M. le Duc de Choiseul."
Peter Björn Kerber has suggested an entirely different provenance prior to the ownership of William Lowther for this painting and its pendant, The Exit of the Duc de Choiseul on St. Peter’s Square in Rome (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin- Preussischer Kulturbesitz). Kerber posits that the abbé de Canilliac, a senior French representative in Rome, commissioned the pendants, rather than the duc de Choiseul, and identifies Canilliac as a figure in each of the paintings. (See Kerber, Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth Century Europe, exh. cat. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 2017: 57-59)
[2] The painting and its pendant were not among the twenty-five oils by Panini sold 5 August 1809 in Paris following Robert's death (Claude Gabillot, Hubert Robert et son temps, Paris, 1895: 257- 259, nos. 9-24; 249-250; 226-227; 253, nos. 275-277). In the 18 August 1821 inventory of the paintings and drawings in Madame Robert's estate, the paintings were described as follows: "275. Deux très riches compositions par J. P. Panini, représentant l'une l'intérieur de l'église de Saint-Pierre, l'autre l'entrée de M. de Choiseuil à Rome. Ces deux tableaux sont de la plus belle manière du mâitre, sans cadres. Prisés ensemble, 2,500 fr." (Gabillot 1895: 253).
[3] Vente de tableaux...Après le décès de Madame Robert, Paris, 1821: no. 55: "Panini. (Jean Paul) Deux tableaux faisant pendans, des plus importans qui soient sorti[e] du pinceau de ce peintre. Ces deux tableaux également intéressans représentent: l'un l'entrée de M. de Choiseuil à Rome, l'autre l'intérieur de l'Église Saint-Pierre.... L. 6 pi. 6 po, H. 5 pi."
[4] The painting, together with its pendant in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, was removed from 14 and 15 Carlton House Terrace, London, not the Lowther seat, Lowther Castle, Westmorland. The pictures were described in the sale catalogue, no. 911, as: "P. Panini: A view of the exterior of St. Peter's at Rome, with a state procession of foreign Ambassadors, 60 x 76 inches," and bought by "Fairfax-Murray"; no. 912, as "P. Pannini: Interior of St. Peter's at Rome with numerous figures the companion, 60 x 76 inches," bought by Davis.
[5] "Unknown The interior of St. Peter's Rome, with numerous figures in XVIII century costume, 60 x 76 in." Information from Mrs. Langton Douglas, 28 February 1952, The Frick Art Reference Library, New York.
[6] Photographs at the Frick Art Reference Library, New York, and the Witt Library, Courtauld Institute, London, record ownership by the Sackville Gallery (Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:353, n. 9).
[7] After the 1955 death of the dealer/collector Contini Bonacossi, his heirs were left with a large art collection. In 1969 an agreement with the Italian government left the state 35 paintings and 12 sculptures, but others were sold. Among the latter was this painting, which, like many objects in the collection, had been purchased abroad and brought into Italy on a temporary import license, allowing it to be freely sold outside the country. The Thomas Agnew & Sons stockbook entry no. J5909 records their 1967 purchase of the painting from Friedenberg, who may have been an intermediary for the Contini Bonacossi heirs. The "J" in the Agnew stockbook indicates this was on joint ownership, but it is not clear with whom. See also Milton Gendel, "Italy. Saving with One Hand, Giving with Another," Art News LXXI, no. 4 (Summer 1972): 22-23, and A Dealer's Record: Agnew's 1967-81, London, 1981: 12, repro. 61.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1858

1969

1999

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Inscriptions

around the collar of the cupola: [CA]ELORVM TV ES PETRVS ET SV[PER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM ET TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI]; on the ceiling of the nave, the arms of Pope Paul V, encircled by: PAVLVS.V.PONT.MAX.A.MDCXV; on arcophagus above first doorway on right: INNOCENT. XIII. / PONT.MAX.; on upper relief roundel on the first pier at left: S GELASIVUS; on lower roundel on the second pier at left: S. SIXTUS; on upper roundel on right pier: S. CAIVUS; on lower roundel on right pier: S. MARCVS; on second pier: S. TELESCO

Wikidata ID

Q20178073