ID 1344825
Lot 124 | PIETRO ANTONIO ROTARI (VERONA 1707-1762 ST PETERSBURG)
Estimate value
£ 50 000 – 80 000
The Meeting of Alexander the Great and Roxana, behind a trompe l'oeil curtain
oil on canvas
32 3/8 x 26 ¾ in. (83.2 x 68 cm.)
Provenance
The Royal Picture Gallery, Dresden, by 1754 (their wax seal to the reverse); their sale, Bautzmann, Dresden, 16 April 1860 (=1st day), lot 46.
Dr Alfred Bader (1924-2018) and Dr Isabel Bader (1926-2022), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by 1977.
Anonymous sale [The Property of a Private Collector]; Christie’s, New York, 3 October 2001, lot 57, where acquired by the present owner.
Literature
M. Oesterreich, Inventarium von der Königlichen Bilder-Galerie zu Dresden, III, 1754, no. 519.
J.A. Riedel and C.F. Wenzel, Catalogue des Tableaux de la Galerie Electorale à Dresde, Dresden, 1765, p. 244 under 'Additions', as 'un sujet historique'.
J.A. Riedel, Verzeichnis der Königlich-Sächsischen Bildergalerie zu Dresden, neu gefertigt und vollendet im Jahr 1809, II, Dresden, 1809, no. 1767, with the subject erroneously identified as 'Alexander and Darius's wife'.
Verzeichnis der Gemälde im Doubletten-Saal 1821, Dresden, 1821, no. 382.
Verzeichnis der im Vorrat befindlichen Gemälde, Dresden, before 1841, no. 165.
Aldrichimica Acta, X, no. 1, 1977, p. 1 (illustrated on the cover).
G.J.M. Weber, Pietro Graf Rotari in Dresden: ein italienischer Maler am Hof König Augusts III, exhibition catalogue, Dresden, 1999, pp. 48-50 and 128.
Y. Yapou, ‘Trompe l’oeil in Washington’, exhibition review, Apollo, CLVII, no. 494, March 2003, p. 46.
Exhibited
West Lafayette, Union Gallery, Purdue University, Italian Baroque Paintings: Selections from the Bader Collection, 30 March-3 May 1987, no. 12, as ‘Anonymous (Bolognese)’ (catalogue entry by K. Evans).
Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Museum, The Detective’s Eye: Investigating the Old Masters, 20 January-19 March 1989, no. 49A, as 'Bolognese'.
Washington, National Gallery of Art, Deceptions and Illusions: Five Centuries of Trompe L’Oeil Painting, 13 October 2002-2 March 2003, no. 11 (catalogue entry by P. Conisbee).
Düsseldorf, Kunstpalast, Hinter dem Vorhang: Verhüllung und Enthüllung seit der Renaissance - von Tizian bis Christo, 1 October 2016-22 January 2017, unnumbered.
| Artist: | Pietro Antonio Rotari (1707 - 1762) |
|---|---|
| Applied technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Art style: | Old Masters |
| Place of origin: | Italy, Europe |
| Auction house category: | Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Paintings |
| Artist: | Pietro Antonio Rotari (1707 - 1762) |
|---|---|
| Applied technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Art style: | Old Masters |
| Place of origin: | Italy, Europe |
| Auction house category: | Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Paintings |
| Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
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| Phone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |
| Buyer Premium | see on Website | |
| Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase |









