View of a River with a Ruined Castle beyond
possibly François Simonot, called Monsù Francesco Borgognone (1660 - 1731)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1680 - 1731
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
337 x 429 mm (13 1/4 x 16 7/8 in)
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 732163
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, View of a River with Ruined Castle beyond, possibly François Simonot, called Monsù Francesco Borgognone (1660 - 1731). An old inscription on the back of the canvas reads: Par Bourguignon. A horseman in the foreground by a river; on the opposite bank, a walled town with a ruined castle. François Simonot was a French painter working in Rome for the Rospigliosi family, according to eighteenth century inventories where a significant number of his paintings are recorded. Also known as 'Monsù Francesco Borgognone', he was a close follower of Van Bloemen. Four temperas on canvas by Simonot were with Sotheby's, Milan (4 October 2000, lots 411-414) and have since been published in the book by Angela Negro, Paesaggio e Figure. Nuove ricerche sulla collezione Rospigliosi, Rome, 2000, pp. 46-47, figs. 7-10. Other documented works are held at Castello Rospigliosi in Maccarese.
Provenance
Possibly acquired in 1750 - a letter from Henry Hoare (1730 - 1752), son of Henry Hoare (1705-1785) of Stourhead, to his father, dated 25 December 1750 from Aix, mentions a Claude which he did not consider in a good enough state of preservation to buy. He goes on to say that a Borgognone was "the only one I thought worth anything". There is a possibility that he bought it and that this is the painting in question; given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: An old inscription on the back of the canvas reads: Par Bourguignon Verso: Inscribed in pencil on back of frame: No.2 Right Handside of Large Picture on End Wall Verso: Inscribed in red: RH under 78
Makers and roles
possibly François Simonot, called Monsù Francesco Borgognone (1660 - 1731) , artist Italian (Roman) School, artist previously catalogued as manner of Jacques Courtois (Saint-Hippolyte 1621 - Rome 1676) , artist