(Antwerp 1639–1689 Paris)
Portrait of Cardinal Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg,
oil on canvas, 72 x 60 cm, framed

Provenance:
formerly Galerie Maurizio Balena, Rimini;
Christie’s auction, London, 9 April 2003;
F. lli Sestieri, Rome.

Literature:
F. Petrucci, Ferdinand Voet, Rome 2005, no. 59, p. 158, ill. 35, p. 37.

This work depicts Cardinal Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, as is testified by the inscription of the engraving by Jacques Blondeau after the painting (see “Effigies insigna nomina cognomina patriae ac obitus summorum pontificum et S. R. E. cardinalium defunctorum ab anno 1608”, ed. Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, 1668). Fürstenberg was appointed cardinal by Pope Innocence XI on 2 June 1686. Voet must have returned to Rome from Paris at this time, in order to execute this portrait of the cardinal. In contrast to the artistic freedom of contemporary painting in Rome at the time, this painting betrays French influences and Classical traits. Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg was born on 2 December 1629, being appointed Bishop of Metz in 1663. He took part in attempting to prevent the peace treaty with Holland, for which reason he was interned by the Emperor and sentenced to death. However, after the intervention of the Papal Nuncio he was pardoned in 1679. In 1682 he was made Bishop of Strasbourg, in 1686 cardinal and finally in 1688 Archbishop of Cologne. He died in 1704 in Saint-Germain-des-Près, where he had spent his final days as abbott.