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Admiral Gaspard II de Coligny

Artist
François Clouet, French, c.1516–1572
Date
1565–70
Material
Oil on panel
made in
France, Europe
Classification
Paintings
Current Location
On View, Gallery 236E
Dimensions
8 1/16 x 5 13/16 in. (20.4 x 14.8 cm)
by sight (in frame): 8 x 5 1/2 in. (20.3 x 14 cm)
framed: 11 x 8 5/8 in. (27.9 x 21.9 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Rights
Contact Us
Object Number
168:1925
NOTES
Finely detailed with great attention to each link of chain and gold adornment on the cap, this portrait presents one of the most famous 16th-century leaders of the French army. Admiral Gaspard II de Coligny went on to become active in French Protestant (Huguenot) causes. His assassination in 1572 was orchestrated by one of his former Huguenot colleagues. The precisely painted face looks more like a drawing than a painting, a result achieved by sketching the facial features directly onto the panel before the application of paint.
by 1913 -
Peter A. B. Widener (1834-1915), Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, PA; Joseph E. Widener (1871/1872-1943), Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, PA, by inheritance [1]

by 1921 - 1925
Bachstitz Gallery, Berlin, Germany; The Hague, The Netherlands; New York, NY, USA [2]

1925 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Bachstitz Gallery [3]


Notes:
[1] In a 1913 publication, the painting is listed as being owned by Peter A. B. Widener [Valentiner, W. R., Hofstede de Groot, "Pictures in the Collection of P. A. B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch, and Flemish Schools." Volume 1. Philadelphia, 1913, cat. no. 3]. An undated document sent from the Bachstitz Gallery states that the work was formerly in the collection of Joseph E. Widener [SLAM document files]. It is assumed Joseph E. Widener inherited the work upon his father's death in 1915.

[2] See note [1]. According to a 1921 publication, the painting was in the collection of the Bachstitz Gallery at this time ["The Bachstitz Gallery Collection." Vol. III: Objects of Art and Painting. Berlin, A. Frisch, 1921, plate 95].

[3] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, May 15, 1925.