(Bologna circa 1710–1779)
Portrait of Count János Bernard István Pálffy de Erdod (1664–1751), half-length, in armour with a red sash and wearing the Order of Saint Stephen,
inscribed on the reverse: Mons. Belmonte / MS 1945,
oil on canvas, oval, 81.5 x 62 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Marco Riccòmini for confirming the attribution and for his help in cataloguing the present lot.

Also known by the German name Johann Bernhard Stephan Pálffy ab Erdöd, the sitter was an Austrian General of Hungarian descent, who spent his whole life in the military services of the Habsburgs. He attained the rank of Field Marshal of the imperial army and Palatine of Hungary. He became Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and also of the religious and military Order of Saint Stephen. This last decoration is worn by the General in the present painting: it is the red cross with eight points, symbol of the religious and chivalrous order founded in 1561, which was exclusively given by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

The present painting constitutes an important addition to the oeuvre of Luigi Crespi, pertaining to his earlier career. The picture is executed in a manner very similar to his father Giuseppe Maria Crespi’s (Bologna 1665–1747) style of painting and is also typical of the subjects he portrayed. The young Crespi, author of the present work, was clearly inspired by his father full-length portrait of the same sitter (Gemäldegalerie Dresden, inv. no. 403) in the execution of his own, to which he added the Order of Saint Stephen on the sitter’s chest. The elder Crespi was active at the court of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany between 1706 and 1709 under the Gran Principe Ferdinando Maria de’ Medici (Florence 1663–1713).