Field Marshall Ottavio Piccolomini
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 92 x 78 cm h x w x d: Ram 106 x 92 x 9 cm
Inventory numberNM 765
Other titlesTitel (sv): Fältmarskalken Ottavio Piccolomini (1599-1656) Titel (en): Field Marshall Ottavio Piccolomini
DescriptionRes. Katalogtext: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 200: Technical notes: The support probably consists of two pieces of plain-weave fabric joined vertically. Three sides have been trimmed along the outer edges of the current stretcher. Fragments of the tacking edges have been preserved on the right edge. Cusping can be seen only on the top and right sides. The painting has been lined with a coarse but dense lining canvas of plainweave fabric. The lining has led to flattening of the paint surface. The painting has been mounted on a non-original stretcher. The canvas has been prepared with reddish ground that has been applied thinly and evenly. The paint has been applied thinly in opaque layers and completely covers the reddish ground, which is now partly revealed by surface abrasions. A grey colour has been used under the flesh tones, the red cloak and the white lace collar. The paint layer has been applied thickly on the white collar, the cuffs and in the flesh tones. There are also impasto highlights on the helmet and armour. Lead tin yellow has probably been used on the belt and for details in the red cloak. There are distinct brushstrokes in the highlights and areas of impasto in the painting. The armour has been painted fluently in shades of black with no distinct brushstrokes. There was greater modulation of the face with distinct brushstrokes and development from shade to light, but this has been flattened by the lining. Nevertheless the face is very well executed. There are a few retouches to the face and along the left edge of the painting. The painting underwent conservation in 1931, 1981 and 2010. Provenance: Coll. J. N. Byström; purchased 1851, (no. 35); KM 1861, no. 1086; NM 1866, no. 765. exhibited: Bruges 1962, (Chevalier no. 405), cat. no. 206; Munich 1980, no. 713; Copenhagen 1988b, no. 1278; Munster/Osnabrück 1998, no. 1189; Stockholm 2010, no. 97. Bibliography: Sander IV, p.114, no. 35 (as anonymous master); Göthe 1887, p. 138 (as Frans Luyckx?); Göthe 1893, p. 173 (as Frans Luyckx?); Ebenstein 1906/1907, p. 248 (as Frans Luyckx); NM Cat. 1958, p. 193 (attributed to Justus Sustermans); Bruges 1962, p. 235, no. 206; NM Cat. 1990, p. 344; Bussman-Schilling 1998/1999, p. 417, cat. no. 1189; Slavícek 2000, p. 282, cat. no. 282 (as another version/replica by Justus Sustermans). Ottavio Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, was one of the more eminent commanders during the Thirty Years War. He began his military career as a pikeman in Spanish service and in 1618 was a cavalry major in the Austrian army during the cavalry battles in Bohemia. In 1625 he accompanied Pappenheim to Italy, where he was made colonel. He became the commander of Wallenstein’s life guard in 1627 and took part in many battles under the command of Wallenstein, Collalto and Tilly, including the Battle of Lützen. Piccolomini eventually also led the attack on Wallenstein on 25 February 1634 in which he was murdered. He had been awarded a marshal’s staff in connection with the arrest of Wallenstein earlier, together with a large sum of money and the estate of Nachod in Bohemia. At the Battle of Nördlingen in 1634 he fought on Archduke Ferdinand’s side. On 1 July 1639 he won a great victory over the Dutch and French at Thionville, for which he was rewarded by the Emperor and awarded the Duchy of Amalfi by the king of Spain. At the end of 1639 he commanded forces in Bohemia fighting the Swedes. He was defeated at the Battles of Wolfenbüttel (1641) and Breitenfeld (1642), when he and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm surrendered their commands. From 1644 to 1647 he was in command of the Spanish troops fighting the French in the Netherlands and returned to the Imperial service in 1648 as commander- in-chief in Germany. He was also commander of the Imperial army fighting the Swedes and French in Dachau in the same year. He took part in the peace negotiations at Nuremberg between 1649 and 1650. The Nationalmuseum’s half-length portrait depicts Ottavio Piccolomini in his role as an important general. The martial attributes consist of his shining armour and the accompanying helmet. Piccolomini is portrayed with a far-sighted, determined and somewhat elevated gaze out from the image to the right and with dark, curly hair, a moustache and pointed beard. A large lace collar rests on a cloak that covers in its turn the ribbon of an order and his armour. One hand is placed on his hip in a traditional commanding pose, while the other grasps the top of his helmet. The subject’s pose, the focus of his gaze, the armour and the determined facial expression all combine to convey the desired distance from the viewer and to express the subject’s pondus. Earlier this portrait has been ascribed to Frans Luyckx, Diego Vélazquez as well as Justus Sustermans and his brother Cornelis Sustermans. A catalogue raisonée published in 2000 attributes one version of this portrait in the art collections at the National Gallery in Prague to Justus Sustermans (oil on canvas, 92.5 x 80 cm, inv. no. O 8732 (DO 124)) (Fig. 1).1 This work, which is very similar to the Nationalmuseum’s halflength portrait in composition, specific details, the rendering of the face and the background, was earlier, like the Nationalmuseum’s version, attributed to Frans Luyckx. Both attributions have been rejected in recent years on stylistic grounds. The Nationalmuseum’s portrait of Piccolomini should be considered a replica of Sustermans’ portrait in Prague. Its composition alludes to a tradition of portraying generals that is ultimately based on Italian Renaissance portrayals of eminent warriors. A number of portraits of Ottavio Piccolomini are known, some of them in the form of engravings (see, for instance, Cornelis Galle’s engraving based on a work by Adam van Hulle from 1649).2 The Sustermans portrait in the Nationalmuseum’s collections belonged to the collection of the Swedish sculptor Johan Niclas Byström, before it was purchased in 1851 by the Nationalmuseum’s predecessor, the Royal Museum. KS 1 See Slavícek 2000, cat. no. 324 p. 282. 2 For an analysis of the iconography associated with Ottavio Piccolomini, see Bussman/Schilling 1998/1999 and Lahrkamp 1998/1999, pp. 209–214.[End]
Depicted Person
Motif categoryPortrait
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword