Beskrivning: Se även beskrivning i den engelska versionen

Catalogue raisonné: 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]

Foto: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum 2009

Fältmarskalken Ottavio Piccolomini (1599-1656)