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| Giulio Romano Birth of Bacchus 1530s |
Giulio Romano's bold narrative painting of the 1530s known as The Birth of Bacchus has found its latest home in Los Angeles at the Getty Museum. Juno, in the clouds at upper left, has incited Zeus (with thunderbolts, at upper right) to reveal himself in full splendor to his human paramour, Semele. Poor Semele gives birth to Bacchus (caught in the air by nymphs) at the same instant she is incinerated by exposure to the god's glory.
The journeys of this picture over the past five hundred years have been epic. It endured forced sales during both the English Civil War (when it was seized from Charles I) and during the French Revolution (alienated from a branch of the French royal family). The Getty provides a provenance (summarized below) tracing the picture's fortunes and wanderings. It was back in London during much of the 19th century and went up for auction there three different times without finding a buyer (so deeply did the Victorians dislike and devalue Mannerist painting). After the final unsuccessful auction attempt, in 1859, there is no more news of The Birth of Bacchus until it turns up eighty years later in the hands of a private individual in Los Angeles –
1530s Federico II Gonzaga, fifth marchese and first duke of Mantua, commissioned from the artist – by inhertiance to his son, Francesco III Gonzaga, 1540
1540-1550 Francesco III Gonzaga, second duke of Mantua – by inheritance to his son, Guglielmo Gonzaga, 1550
1550-1587 Gugliolmo Gonzaga, third duke of Mantua – by inheritance to his son, Vincenzo I Gonzaga, 1587
1587-1612 Vincenzo I Gonzaga, fourth duke of Mantua – by inheritance to his son, Francesco IV Gonzaga, 1612
1612 Francesco IV Gonzaga, fifth duke of Mantua – by inheritance to his son, Ferdinando Gonzaga, 1612
1612-1626 Ferdinando Gonzaga, sixth duke of Mantua – by inheritance to his brother, Vincenzo II Gonzaga, 1626
1626-1627 Vincenzo II Gonzaga, seventh duke of Mantua – sold to Charles I, probably between 1627 and 1632
early 1630s-1650 King Charles I of England – upon his death, held by the Commonwealth
1649-1650 Estate of King Charles I of England – sold, Charles I sale, Somerset House, London, May 3, 1650, to Nicholas Lanier
1650 Nicholas Lanier (London, England)
by 1652 John DeCritz (Austin Friars, London, England)
by 1696 Everhard Jabach (Paris, France)
- 1723 Philippe II, duc d'Orleans, Regent of France – by inheritance to Louis, duc d'Orleans, 1723
1723-1752 Louis, duc d'Orleans – by inheritance to Louis-Philippe, duc d'Orleans, 1752
1752-1785 Louis-Philippe, duc d'Orleans – by inheritance to Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d'Orleans, 1785
1785-1792 Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d'Orleans – sold to Edouard de Walkuers, 1792
1792 Vicomte Edouard de Walkuers (Brussels, Belgium) -- sold to his cousin, Francois-Louis-Joseph de Laborde-Mereville, 1792
1792-1793 Francois-Louis-Joseph de Laborde-Mereville (Paris, France; London, England) consigned to Jeremiah Harman, 1793
1793-1798 Jeremiah Harman, sold as part of entire Orleans collection of Italian paintings to a consortium of George Granville Leveson-Gower, Frederick Howard, and Francis Egerton, 1798
1798-1800 George Granville Leveson-Gower, first duke of Sutherland, and Frederick Howard, fifth earl of Carlisle, and Francis Egerton, third duke of Bridgewater – possibly in sales exhibition, London, Lyceum in the Strand (December 26, 1798 to possibly August 1799), no. 230, unsold – [possibly sold, Orleans Collection, Coxe Burrell and Foster, London, February 14, 1800, lot 48]
- 1806 Sir Richard Joseph Sullivan, first Bart. (Thames Ditton, Surrey, England) [unsold, Sullivan sale, European Museum, London, December 29, 1806, lot 1898] – by inheritance to Henry Sullivan, 1806
1806-1814 Sir Henry Sullivan, second Bart. (Thames Ditton, Surrey, England) [unsold, Sullivan sale, Christie's, London, April 9, 1808, lot 12] – by inheritance to his son, Charles Sullivan, 1814
1814-still in 1859 Sir Charles Sullivan, third Bart. (Ember Court, Surrey, England) [unsold, Sullivan sale, Christie's, London, June 18, 1859, lot 62]
1939-1941 O.E. Ruggles (Los Angeles, California) – consigned to Armand du Vannes
1941- Armand du Vannes (West Hollywood, California)
by 1948 Arnold Prilucker (Los Angeles, Calfiornia)
1948-1969 Paul Metcalf Galleries (Los Angeles, California) – sold to J. Paul Getty Museum, 1969