Giovanni Paolo Panini

PANINI, GIAN PAOLO (1691-1764). Alexander the Great cutting the Gordian Knot. Oil/canvas, relined. Provenance: From an important Northern Italian private collection. Expertise: Prof. Ferdinando Arisi 1970. Lit.: Ferdinando Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini e i fasti della Roma del '700, Roma 1986, p. 309, no. 166 with fig. of the painting at hand. The painting, most probably executed c. 1725, is very close to earlier versions of this theme dating from 1718/19 (cf. op. cit. p. 277, no. 131, p. 278, no. 115). The architectonical background shows marked similarities to the painting "Concert in a Circular Gallery", today preserved at Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv.-no. 407/1404; cf. op. cit. p. 255, no. 73.) The same architecture can also be found on a drawing, dated 1725, preserved at Albertina, Vienna. 90 x 73 cm Alexander der Große teilt den Gordischen Knoten. Öl/Leinwand, doubliert. Provenienz: Aus einer bedeutenden norditalienischen Privatsammlung. Expertise: Prof. Ferdinando Arisi, 1970. Lit.: Ferdinando Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini e i fasti della Roma del '700, Roma 1986, S. 309, Nr. 166 mit Abbildung des vorliegenden Werks. Das Gemälde dürfte um 1725 entstanden sein und schließt sich thematisch und kompositorisch früheren Versionen dieses Themenkreises aus den Jahren 1718/19 an (vgl. op. cit. S. 277, Nr. 131, S. 278, Nr. 115). Die architektonische Kulisse weist deutliche Analogien zum "Konzert in einem Hof", ebenfalls aus den Jahren 1718/19 auf, heute im Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv.-Nr. 407/1404; vgl. op. cit. S. 255, Nr. 73.) Dieselbe Architektur findet sich auch auf einer Zeichnung, datiert 1725, die in der Albertina in Wien aufbewahrt wird.

LOT 97 PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR GIOVANNI PAOLO PANINI PIACENZA 1691 - 1765 ROME CAPRICCIO OF CLASSICAL RUINS WITH THE TEMPLE OF ANTONIUS AND FAUSTINA, THE COLOSSEUM, THE BASILICA OF MAXENTIUS AND THE TEMPLE OF VENUS AND ROME, A MAN ADMIRING THE FARNESE HERCULES WHILE OTHERS CONVERSE WITH WASHERWOMEN NEAR A SCULPTED RELIEF OF A SACRIFICE IN THE FOREGROUND signed and dated: I.P. PANINI / ROMÆ / 1739 oil on canvas 29 1/4 by 39 1/8 in.; 74.3 by 99.5 cm.

Giovanni Paolo Panini (Piacenza 1691-1765 Rome) Antique ruins with a soldier and other figures with inscripion 'Gio: P Panini' traces of black chalk, pen and brown ink, grey wash, brown ink framing lines 8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in. (20.6 x 15.6 cm.) H. Howard (L.2957 and L.2833). A.P. Oppé (L. 2949a). with Paul Drey Gallery, New York. Engraved by George Knapton.

Giovanni Paolo Panini (Piacenza 1691-1765 Rome) Capriccio of a classical loggia; and Capriccio of palaces with giochi d'acqua the second signed and inscribed 'Gio: Paolo Piacenti no in Roma (on the base of the statue) oil on canvas the first 23¾ x 29 3/8 in. (60.3 x 74.6 cm.); the second 23 7/8 x 29 1/8 in. (58.6 x 73.9 cm.) a pair (2) Private collection, Norfolk, United Kingdom, from the mid-19th century. Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 10 July 1992, lot 29, where acquired by the present owner. PROPERTY OF A SOUTH FLORIDA COLLECTOR F. Arisi, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1691-1765, exhibition catalogue, Museo Civico, Piacenza; Louvre, Paris; and Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, 1993, pp. 19, 22, illustrated. Described by Ferdinando Arisi as "original works of the highest quality" (private communication, 15 May 1992), these fresh and lively capricci are among the earliest known paintings by Giovanni Paolo Panini. Arisi has suggested a date of around 1716-1718 for the pair, not long after Panini had finished his apprenticeship in his native Piacenza and settled in Rome (Arisi, op. cit., p. 22). Arisi was fascinated by the signature on the second canvas, noting that its reference to the artist's hometown is unique. He observed, however, that the Panciroli-Posterola guidebook of Rome from 1725 describes pictures in the Gallery of the Palazzo Albani as having been "painted by Giovan Paolo from Piacenza" (private communication, 15 May 1992). It is not surprising that the young Panini, having just relocated from Piacenza, would have sought to acknowledge his place of origin. The discovery of the signature sheds light on why he is purposefully described as "da Piacenza" in the guidebook of 1725. Intrigued by this revelation, Arisi discussed the present works in a lecture given at the Louvre in 1992, "The Formation of Gian Paolo Panini and French culture in Rome in the 18th century" ("La formazione di Gian Paolo Panini e la cultura francese a Roma nel secolo XVIII"). Arisi has noted that both pictures reveal the influence of the Emilian stage designer Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena (1656-1743), who trained Panini in Rome in painting illusionistic architecture. Furthermore, he observed, the figures in the paintings are painted with an elegance and verve that may have been inspired by the fêtes galantes of Watteau (Arisi, op. cit, p. 19). Similar works from this moment in Panini's career are the Giochi d'acqua in the collection of the Earl of Spencer, Northampton, and the capriccio at the Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington (inv. 74.19.2). Together with these, the present works comprise a group of exceptionally fine paintings that explain Panini's early success in Rome and his admission to the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in 1718-1719. The Capriccio of palaces with 'giochi d'acqua' depicts playful "Water Games" that were made possible by new feats of hydraulic engineering in the 16th century. Italian gardens like those at the Villa Farnese in Caprarola and the Villa Lante in Bagnaia were among the first to include such features, and similar light-hearted contrivances became popular in French gardens as well, including at Versailles. One of the most popular of the Giochi d'acqua in 18th-century Europe involved a practical joke: a gardener or accomplice could turn a hidden wheel to activate a series of water jets, surprising surrounding guests by trapping them and soaking their finery. Such a game is depicted in the work at hand: as streams of water spurt suddenly to life, surprised visitors leap to their feet and dash away, some throwing their hands into the air and others hastily pulling their clothing away from their ankles in an effort to keep dry. Onlookers point and laugh at the excitement, while a happy dog jumps eagerly in the spray.

LOT 25 GIAN PAOLO PANINI PIACENZA 1691 - 1765 ROME AN IDEALIZED VIEW OF THE ROMAN FORUM, WITH THE RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX, AND THE COLOSSEUM AND THE ARCH OF TITUS IN THE BACKGROUND pen and black and gray ink and watercolor over traces of black chalk, within pen and brown ink framing lines, on two sheets of paper 13 5/16 by 24 5/8 in; 33.7 by 62.5 cm.