An Unknown Man, miscalled Georges de Selve, but possibly Georges d'Armagnac, Bishop of Rodez (c1500-1585)
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Oil portrait on panel of An Unknown Man, known as Georges de Selve (1509-1541). The man is shown in quarter-length, slightly turned to the right with his gaze forward. He has a short beard and moustache. He wears a black four-cornered hat and a black robe trimmed with brown fur.
Dressed in a fine fur cloak, this gentleman has been identified as Georges de Selve, one of the figures in Holbein's famous painting 'The Ambassadors' (National Gallery, London). It has also been suggested that it shows Georges d'Armagnac, Bishop of Rodi, painted by Titian with his secretary Guillaume Philandrier in a work at Alnwick Castle (Collection of the Duke of Northumberland). Neither of these identifications is entirely convincing.
Corneille de Lyon was born in The Hague but had moved to Lyon by 1533. The French court was often in the city, and he became painter to the French Queen and then the dauphin. When the dauphin became King Henri II in 1548, Corneille became his first painter. He was naturalised as a Frenchman and married the daughter of a Lyon printer. Corneille painted portraits of the French court but also citizens of Lyon. The style of the costume dates this composition to the 1540s. It may be a damaged original by Corneille, or a workshop copy. Many of Corneille's portraits of important members of the court were reproduced as numerous replicas and copies.
Georges de Selve was the third son of Jean de Selve, Premier Président of the Parliament of Paris. He was appointed to the Bishopric of Lavaur in 1526 as a reward for his father's services in negotiating the Treaty of Madrid. He was much employed in diplomatic missions and visited England in 1533, when he was painted by Holbein. Later he was ambassador at Venice and Rome and to the Emperor Charles V. Georges d'Armagnac was a bishop and later a cardinal. He succeeded Georges de Selve as French Ambassador at Venice in 1537.
A mark on the back of the panel indicates that it once belonged to a member of the Seguier family. It may have appeared in a sale of 1903 which followed the death of Frederick Peter Seguier (1837-1902), an artist and painting restorer. His father, John (1785-1856), and uncle, William (1771-1843), worked as painters, dealers, restorers and art advisors to the nobility and the King. Between them they amassed an impressive painting collection which passed to Frederick on their deaths.
Phillippa Plock, 2012
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
184 x 146
Approx 180 x 120 - sight
Signature & date
not signed or dated
Marks
Seguir collection
Collector's mark
on verso
Labels
Georges de Selve Bishop of Lavaur by Corneille de Lyon
Label
on frame, lower left to lower right
Provenance
- Owned by a member of the Seguier family, either William (1771-1843) or John (1785-1856) and by descent to their nephew or son Frederick William Seguier (b.1837, d.1902); probably sold in Frederick's sale, Christie's London, 7 February 1903, lot 65 as 'Holbein. Portrait of a gentleman in a dark dress, with fur and black cap. On panel 6 x 5 inches'; acquired by the Durlacher Brothers; acquired from the Durlacher Brothers, along with a 17th century English miniature and a portrait of the Duke of Norfolk by Corneille de Lyon from the Magniac Collection for £1400, receipt dated 30 July 1918, by Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); accepted by The Treasury Solicitor in lieu of taxes on the Estate of Mr James de Rothschild in 1963; given to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1990.
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the National Trust for display at Waddesdon Manor, 1990
Bibliography
- Michael Jaffé, The Picture of the Secretary of Titian, The Burlington Magazine, 107, 1996, 114-126; pp. 123-4; identified as Georges d'Armagnac.
- Ellis Waterhouse, Anthony Blunt; Paintings: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre, The National Trust; 1967; pp. 230-1, cat. no. 103, ill.; identified as Georges de Selve.
- Anne Dubois de Groer; Corneille de La Haye dit Corneille de Lyon; Paris; Arthena; 1996; p. 151, no. 42, ill.; doubts identification as Georges de Selve.
- Daniela Roberts; Imago Mundi: Eine ikonographische und mentalitätsgeschichtliche Studie, ausgehend von Hans Holbein d.J. "The Ambassadors".; Hildesheim; Georg Olms Verlag; 2009; p. 519, fig. 89; identified as Georges de Selve.
Subject person
- Georges de Selve, possibly pictured
- Georges d' Armagnac, possibly pictured