Permanent Collection

1600–1700

WORKSABOUT THE PERIODARTISTS

WORKS

Jacob Jordaens, circle

(Antwerp, 1593–1678)

The Judgement of Paris
oil, canvas, 113 x 139 cm

NG S 2043, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

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The scene is taken from Greek mythology. The shepherd Paris, with Hermes at his side, is handing the apple to Aphrodite, as the prize in the beauty competition. Aphrodite is accompanied by little Eros. The other two goddesses in this contest are Hera with a peacock and Athena with her instruments of war at her feet.

The style of the painting is characteristic of Jordaens’ mature period, but without more detailed technical examination, literature searches and comparisons we cannot attribute it to Jordaens himself. We know that Jordaens painted The Judgement of Paris several times; the only version known today is in the Samuel H. Kress Collection in the Lowe Gallery of the University of Miami (Florida, USA), which can be dated between 1620 and 1625. In old auction catalogues there are numerous mentions of Jordaens paintings of this motif, but it is impossible to establish whether one or the other of them could be linked with the picture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection or with the composition of our painting; cf. auction catalogues of Siebrecht (Antwerp 1754), the Spanish consul (London 1772), Nieuwhoff (Amsterdam 1777) and De La Salle (Vienna 1827). Because of the difference in size our painting cannot be identified as that in the collection of Christiane Susanne De Vries (Amsterdam 1840) nor that which was on sale at the Ourshagen auction (Mechelen 1892).

Preservation: At some time after the painting had been returned to Brdo Castle from the 1983 exhibition it was perforated and the paint fell off the stomach of the central female figure. Damage repaired in 1997, Kemal Selmanović.
Provenance: Unknown. Government of Slovenia, Brdo Castle; 1986 entrusted to the Narodna galerija.
Exhibitions: 1960, Ljubljana, No. 35; 1983, Ljubljana, No. 90.
Lit.: Cevc 1960, p. 24, Cat. No. 35, Fig. 19 (Giovan Gioseffo dal (!) Sole [?]); Rizzi 1972, p. 134, No. 35 (Flemish, 17C); Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, p. 160, Cat. No. 90, Fig. 89.

ABOUT THE PERIOD

From Mannerism to Baroque

Although imported early-Baroque works prevailed in this period and those by itinerant artists, the 17th century paved the way for the future. The political circumstances in the region were relatively stabilized in spite of the Thirty Year War and the patronage gradually grew stronger. The arrival of the Jesuits in Ljubljana, the activity of the polymath Johann Weichard Valvasor, particularly his graphic workshop at Bogenšperk/Wagensperg Castle, and the foundation of the Academia operosorum at the end of the century were the key events of the time.

Characteristic of sculptural production on the Slovenian territory in the 17th century were the so-called “golden altars”. As a rule, these were gilded and polychrome carved wooden retables with rich ornamentation, first with crustaceous patterns which turned into vine and grapes that covered architectural framework until the achantus foliage took over and obliterated architectural structure completely. The making of golden altars included several branches of fine arts: prints, carving, gilding, painting. Religious painting of the first half of the century still contains Mannerist elements; in the second half also secular motifs became more numerous, particularly genre scenes and aristocratic portraits. The artworks mainly echo northern early-Baroque influences.

Noteworthy among the newcomers who settled in Carniola with their workshops were the painter and gilder Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld in the mid-century, who had moved to Carniola from the region of the Central Alps, and the Fleming Almanach in the third quarter of the 17th century, known only by his nickname, who worked here only for a few years. The extraordinary productivity and skills of the latter are evidenced by his rare surviving works, mentions in Valvasor’s books, and aristocratic probate inventories.

ARTISTS

Owner	Birth - death
Francesco Pittoni	(Venice, ca 1654 − after 1724)
Joannes Almenak	(Antwerpen ?, ca 1640/45 – after 1684)
Anonymous	-
Alvise (Luigi) Benfatto	(Verona, 1554 – Venice, 1609)
Bartolomeo Bettera	(Bergamo, 1639 – ?, after 1688)
Antonio Calza	(Verona, 1653–1725)
Giovanni Andrea Carlone	(Genoa, 1639−1697)
Giacomo Francesco Cipper	(Feldkirchen, 1664 – Milan, 1736)
Giovanni Stefano Danedi	(Treviglio, 1618? − Milan?, 1690)
Giuseppe Diamantini	(Fossombrone, 1621–1705)
Felice Ficherelli	(San Gimignano, 1603 – Florence, 1660)
Frans Francken II	(Antwerp, 1581–1642)
Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld	(?, c. 1610 – Zagreb, 1681)
Luca Giordano	(Naples, 1634–1705)
Janez Frančišek Gladič	(Rijeka, 1635 – Ljubljana?, 1663)
Eberhart Keilhau	(Helsingør, 1624 − Rome, 1687)
Gregorio Lazzarini	(Venice, 1655 – Villabona Veronese, 1730)
Pietro Liberi	(Padua, 1605 – Venice, 1687)
Maestro Jacopo	-
Pieter Mulier	(Haarlem, 1637 – Milan, 1701)
Jacob Pynas	(Haarlem, c. 1585 − after 1650)
Carl Ruthart	(Danzig, c. 1630 – L'Aquila, c. 1703)
Jacob van Kerckhoven	(Antwerp, c. 1637 – Venice, after 1712)
Peter van Kessel	(Antwerp, ? – Ratzeburg, 1668)
Otto van Veen	(Leiden, 1556 – Brussels, 1629)
Herman Verelst	The Hague, 1641/1642 − London, 1702)
Giuseppe Vicenzino	(active 2nd half 17th cent.)