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| Artist | Courtois, Guillaume (French painter and draftsman, 1628-1679, active in Italy) |
| Previous attributions | Previously attributed to manner of Passarotti, Passarotto (Italian painter, born ca. 1560, died after 1606) Previously attributed to Carracci, Annibale (Italian painter, 1560-1609) |
| Title | Portrait of a Gentleman |
| Alternative/previous titles | Portrait of the Artist as a Gardener; Portrait of a Man Holding Flowers and a Pruning Knife |
| Date earliest | possibly 1580 |
| Date latest | possibly 1620 |
| Material | oil on canvas |
| Measurements | 94 x 71 cm (estimate) |
| Description | The author of this arresting portrait of a gentleman posed as a gardener has been much debated. In 1918, it was considered to be a self-portrait by Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), the leading early seventeenth century Bolognese artist, who was admired for his classical realist style. This attribution was questioned when the work was exhibited in the 1950s and 60s. It was seen to be closer to that of Carracci’s Bolognese teacher, Passarotti, known for his paintings of tradesmen. Recently, it has been suggested that it is close to the work of Guillaume Courtois, a later painter of altarpieces in Rome. Its style, though, suggests an earlier date. |
| Subject | portrait; still life (flowers); landscape; place (Rome, Castel Sant'Angelo) |
| Collection | Harewood House, Leeds |
| Current accession number | HHTP:2001.1.19 |
| Previous accession number(s) | 13 (Borenius) |
| Acquisition details | Purchased from Thos. Agnew's, London 1918. |
| Provenance | Sir Robert Gordon, Ambassador to the Court of Vienna, 1848; Lady Beryl Gilbert of Revesby Abbey, Boston; Christie's, London, 8 Feb 1918, lot 124, 290 guineas; Thos. Agnew's, London, 1918. |
| Principal exhibitions | Holbein & his Contemporaries, Royal Academy, London, 1950 - 51, cat. no. 294, as by Annibale Carracci; The Carracci: Drawings and Paintings, King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1961, cat. no. 200, as by Annibale Carracci. |
| Principal publications | Borenius, T., Catalogue of the Pictures and Drawings at Harewood House, Oxford, 1936, cat. no. 13, p. 10, as Portrait of a Gentleman by Annibale Carracci; Mahon, D., 'The Seicento at Burlington House: Some Addenda and Corrigenda - II', Burlington Magazine, vol. 93, March 1951, p. 81, as 'vaguely Passerottian'; Holland, R. The Carracci. Drawings and Paintings, Newcastle, 1961, no. 200, as by Annibale Carracci; Jaffé, M., 'The Carracci at Newcastle' Burlington Magazine, vol. 104, Jan 1962, p. 19, as not by Annibale Carracci; Posner, D., Annibale Carracci - A Study in the Reform of Italian Painting around 1590, 2 vols, London, 1971, no. 190[R], ii p. 80, as Portrait of a Man Holding Flowers and a Pruning Knife by Passerotti. |
| Notes | See Harewood document HHTD. 2003.1.1 receipt from Agnew's dated June 1919: '1918... Februrary 8th Lot 124. [Mesak?] Christies' Sale. February 8th Picture by A. Carracci Portrait of the artist as a Gardener holding a pruning knife and a bunch of flowers. 290 guineas.' Attributed to Guglielmo Cortese or Courtois, Il Borgognone (circle of) by Christie's, 2003. See similar picture in York Art Gallery, also once attributed to Carracci but now also considered to be by Cortese. |
| Rights status | By kind permission of the Earl and Countess of Harewood and the Trustees of Harewood House Trust |
| Author | Dr Phillippa Plock |
