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拍品专文
Born into a prestigious artistic dynasty, Francken was admired for his small-scale cabinet pictures, typically painted on copper or panel, illustrating mythological, historical or allegorical subjects. Diana and her nymphs exhibits the meticulous touch and graceful composition for which he was so highly praised during his lifetime. Francken’s depiction of Diana was probably based on a design he kept in his workshop, as the figure reoccurs in other works by the painter, such as his Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite in Florence (Galleria Palatina). A skilled figure painter, he frequently collaborated with other artists in Antwerp who would contribute the landscape or architectural settings, or various still life elements, to his works. In this painting, the broad wooded landscape and the minor staffage of the hunters and their dogs amongst the trees were painted by Alexander Keirincx. Born in Antwerp, his early works show the strong influence of Abraham Govaerts, in whose studio he likely trained. This painting can therefore be dated to before 1626, when Keirincx travelled to the northern Netherlands, where he is recorded in Utrecht, before moving to Amsterdam and eventually to London in 1640, where he worked for King Charles I. The present landscape is typical of Keirincx’s early oeuvre, using the popular Flemish landscape tradition of depicting a densely wooded view with a waterway breaking through the composition. These devices clearly show his knowledge of works by Govaerts, closely resembling many of the latter’s compositions, for example his Wooded landscape with the Five Senses (Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlungen der Stadt).
According to a label on the reverse, the picture was formerly part of the renowned Borromeo-Monti collection at Isola Bella, Lago Maggiore. Belonging to the aristocratic Borromeo family, whose members were wealthy bankers, important Milanese politicians and high ranking cardinals, the collection was begun in the seventeenth century, and grew to become one of the most celebrated in Italy. In 1830, a further group of pictures entered the collection as part of a bequest to Gilberto VI Borromeo (1815-1885) of the collection of Giovanni Battista Monti, administrator of the household of Gilberto V Borromeo (1751-1837). The Monti collection included numerous works by important painters including Bernardino Luini, Vicenzo Foppa and Gaudenzio Ferrari. It is likely that an inventory was drawn up in the year the Monti paintings entered the Borromeo collection, since the label on the reverse here is dated that year, listing the present picture as no. 32. Despite this, it remains uncertain whether Diana and her nymphs was part of the Monti group or of the Borromeo collection. According to an inscription added to the 1830 label, the painting was later hung in the Sala Disegni as no. 14.
According to a label on the reverse, the picture was formerly part of the renowned Borromeo-Monti collection at Isola Bella, Lago Maggiore. Belonging to the aristocratic Borromeo family, whose members were wealthy bankers, important Milanese politicians and high ranking cardinals, the collection was begun in the seventeenth century, and grew to become one of the most celebrated in Italy. In 1830, a further group of pictures entered the collection as part of a bequest to Gilberto VI Borromeo (1815-1885) of the collection of Giovanni Battista Monti, administrator of the household of Gilberto V Borromeo (1751-1837). The Monti collection included numerous works by important painters including Bernardino Luini, Vicenzo Foppa and Gaudenzio Ferrari. It is likely that an inventory was drawn up in the year the Monti paintings entered the Borromeo collection, since the label on the reverse here is dated that year, listing the present picture as no. 32. Despite this, it remains uncertain whether Diana and her nymphs was part of the Monti group or of the Borromeo collection. According to an inscription added to the 1830 label, the painting was later hung in the Sala Disegni as no. 14.