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Giuseppe Macpherson (1726-c. 1780)

Jacopo Chiavistelli (1621-1698) c.1772-80

Watercolour on ivory | 7.0 x 5.6 cm (sight) | RCIN 421268

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  • Jacopo Chiavistelli (1621-98) was a Florentine painter, well-known for his skill in depicting architectural illusion. From the age of 12, he studied with a number of Florentine artists, in particular Bartolomeo Neri, and he took lessons in perspective and civil and military architecture. He worked for theatres, in particular the theatre of the Pergola, decorating the building itself and also producing scenery for the plays staged there by Cardinal Gian Carlo. The Medici family became great patrons of Chiavistelli and he decorated many rooms in the Pitti palace and elsewhere for them. He also produced paintings and frescoes for numerous churches, villas and palaces in and around Florence. When he was 59 or 60 years old, he married Doralice Bottini and they had seven children. He is buried in the church of S Felice in Piazza, in front of the altar of S Lucia, for which he himself had painted the altarpiece.

    This miniature is one of the collection of copies of 224 self-portraits by artists in the Uffizi Palace, Florence, that Lord Cowper, the art collector and patron, commissioned from Giuseppe Macpherson (1726-80). He presented the miniatures to King George III in two batches, in 1773 and 1786. Macpherson followed the original self-portraits quite closely, but copied only the head and shoulders. He inscribed the artists' names on the backs of the miniatures – several differ from those in the modern Uffizi catalogue, notably: Bazzi, Bellini, Campi, Annibale Carracci, Gabbiani, Masaccio, Metsys, Moroni, Pencz, Licinio, Schiavone and Spada. None of the miniatures is signed, apart from Macpherson's own self-portrait, which is inscribed: Giuseppe Macpherson / Autore della serie (Giuseppe Macpherson / Author of the series). Macpherson was born in Florence, the son of Donald Macpherson, a footman in the service of Alexander, 2nd duke of Gordon. He was a pupil of Pompeo Batoni and painted miniatures and enamel portraits in Italy, France and Germany, finally settling in Florence. A James Macpherson is recorded in London and Paris in 1754 but it is not certain that this is the same person. He was described in 1776 as having a special talent for painting on enamel and as being 'almost the only painter in Europe who possesses this art to perfection'. He had a distinguished client list which included some of the crowned heads and dignitaries of Europe. In 1778, he was invited to add his own self-portrait to the famous painters in the grand duke's collection as it 'would do honour to Florence to enrich the collection with a work which shows that we still have some men of true merit', according to Giuseppe Pelli, director of the Uffizi.

    Provenance

    Presented to George III by Lord Cowper

  • Medium and techniques

    Watercolour on ivory

    Measurements

    7.0 x 5.6 cm (sight)


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