(Mirandola 1673–1741 Bologna)
Capriccio with Roman ruins and figures dancing beyond;
Capriccio with Roman ruins and figures near a fountain,
tempera on canvas, 193 x 161 cm, shaped top, framed (2)

Inscribed on 19th century labels on the reverse of the possibly original frame:
Ducato di Galliera/Inventario 1837/N.1640;
Palazzo R. di Bologna/Quartiere/Camera N. 19[..]/ N. 1246; [..]
cato di Galliera/Inventario 1837/N.1719;
Palazzo R. di Bologna/Quartiere Camara/Camera N. 217/ N. 1317;
Provenance: Possibly the Caprara family, Palazzo Caprara, Bologna;
Josephine de Beauharnais (Milan 1807-1876 Stockholm), the Duchessa di Galliera, Palazzo Reale di Bologna (formerly palazzo Caprara), by 1806;
Possibly acquired by Marchese Raffaele Luigi di Ferrari (1803-1876), Duca di Galliera,1837;
By descent to his wife Marchesa Maria Brignole Sale;
Possibly by inheritance to Antonio Maria Filippo d’Orleans (Siviglia 1824-1890), Duke of Montpensier, by 1888;
Thence by descent to his son Antonio Maria Luigi Filippo d’Orleans Borbone (n. 1866 – m. 1930), Duke of Montpensier, until sold;
European private collection

Documentation:
Bologna, Archivio di Stato, Fondo Ducato di Galliera, Inventory of Palace in Bologna property of the Real Princes of Sweden and Norway, June 1837: “[Marca]1640, [Ambiente] 41.Camera da letto con camino, Due prospettive per il lungo del Mirandolese con cornice smossa e cima tinta e oro”; “[Marca] 1719, [Ambiente] 56. Camera da pranzo, Una prospettiva per il lungo del Mirandolese con cornice smossa e cima tinta e oro”;

These two large decorative canvases were painted by the Bolognese artist Pietro Paltronieri, called Il Mirandolese (see Documents). The present works can be compared with several similar compositions by Paltronieri, who mostly produced large canvases, similarly shaped, to decorate the rooms of the noble palaces in Bologna, as those executed around 1718/1722 and still existing in palazzo Caprara (see C. Bandera, Pietro Paltronieri “Il Mirandolese”, cat. n° 4a-l, pp. 85-96).
Old labels on the reverse of the original frames indicate that the present paintings were part of the collection of Josephine Maximillienne Eugenie Napoleon de Beauharnais (Milan 1807-1876 Stockholm), the Duchessa di Galliera, and that they were displayed in the Palazzo Reale di Bologna, formerly owned by the Caprara family. The palace was purchased by Napoleon Bonaparte from the count Carlo Caprara in 1806 and donated to Josephine, with all the furniture and a collection of paintings. Josephine was the daughter of Eugene de Beauharnais (1781-1824) and Augusta Amalia (daughter of King Maximilian of Bavaria). In 1805, Napoleon adopted her father and named him Viceroy of Italy. Two years later, on 29 December 1807 the young Josephine was named Princess of Bologna and on 14 May 1813 she became Duchessa di Galliera. In 1823 Josephine married Oscar I (1779-1859), King of Sweden and Norway and Marshall under Napoleon, and in the same year an inventory was taken at the Palazzo Reale di Bologna.

The palace, with the furniture and a part of the collections of paintings, were bought in 1837 by the Genoese banker Marchese Raffaele Luigi di Ferrari (1803-1876), with the title of Duke of Galliera, also mentioned in the labels on the back of the present works.

As indicated by the 19th century inventories of the Palazzo Caprara (1837) the present canvases were displayed in the apartments of the upper floor of the palaces, in the “bedroom with chimney” (camera da letto con camino) and in the Dining room, together with other similar canvases (see Documents).

The several paintings by Paltronieri mentioned in the inventories of the Palazzo Reale were possibly commissioned by the Caprara family, who had been one the most important patrons of the artist. These works possibly remained in the palace until the final dispersion of the collection by the Duke of Montpensier in the 1920s.

We are grateful to Dottor Massimo Zancolich for his support in researching the early provenance of these paintings and for the archival documentation.

The present paintings relate to lot 579 and lot 869 in Part II (17th April 2013).