Live Auction 7783Old Master & 19th Century Paintings, Drawings & Watercolours Day Sale
Christie’s roundel
Lot 114

Circle of Gentile Bellini (Venice ?1429-1507)

Portrait of Doge Cristoforo Moro (1390-1471), bust-length, in profile

Closed9 December 2009

Price Realised

GBP 39,650

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Circle of Gentile Bellini (Venice ?1429-1507)
Portrait of Doge Cristoforo Moro (1390-1471), bust-length, in profile
oil on canvas
25 x 16 in. (63.5 x 40.7 cm.)
with the sitter's family arms (lower left and lower right)

Edward Cheney, Badger Hall, Shropshire; (+) Christie's, 29 April 1885, lot 118, as 'G. Bellini' (35 gns. to David).
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery and 1st Earl of Midlothian, K.G., P.C. (1847-1929), and by descent at Mentmore Towers to,
Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery and 2nd Earl of Midlothian (1882-1974); (+) Sotheby's, on the premises, 25 May [= 7th day of sale] 1977, lot 2435, from the Napoleon Room, as 'Venetian School, 16th Century - Portrait of Doge Lodovico Moro' (sold £3,200).

Specialist note

Cristoforo Moro was the 67th Doge of Venice, elected in 1462, and the 11th person from his family to be elected doge. His official portrait by Gentile Bellini was unfortunately destroyed by the fierce fire that destroyed Palazzo Ducale in Venice, in 1577. This painting is therefore an important document, since his features are recorded only by what is thought to be a later copy of the destroyed portrait, in the sacristy of San Giobbe (illustrated in F. Heinemann, Giovanni Bellini e i belliniani, III [Supplemento e ampliamenti], Hildesheim, Zurich and New York, 1991, p. 112, fig. 193). This picture was probably purchased by Edward Cheney (1803-1884), who resided for many years in Italy, and made numerous acquisitions in Venice.