Title: Perseus and Andromeda
Date work started: 1554
Date work completed: 1556
Place created: Venice
Patron: Philip II
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Sequence: Itinerary 1 of 32
Owner Name: Titian
In possession from: 1554 to 1556
Location: Casa Grande, Venice
Notes:
Citations: Humfrey, Peter, Titian: The Complete Paintings, (New York: H.N. Abrams, 2007) p. 177.
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Sequence: Itinerary 2 of 32
Owner Name: Philip II
In possession from: 1556 to Unknown
Location: Ghent
Notes:
Titian sent Perseus and Andromeda to Philip II in congratulations on Philip's marriage to Queen Mary Tudor of England; Philip acknowledged receipt of the painting in Ghent in a letter dated September 7, 1556.
Though Philip returned to England between March and July of 1557, there is no evidence known that Perseus and Andromeda also traveled to England with him.
John Ingamells, "'Perseus and Andromeda': The Provenance," The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 124, No. 952, (Jul., 1982), pp. 396-400.
Citations: Wethey, Harold E. , The Paintings of Titian, v. 3 : The Mythological and Historical Paintings, (London: Phaidon, 1975) p. 170.
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Sequence: Itinerary 3 of 32
Owner Name: Philip II
In possession from: Unknown to Unknown
Location: Alcazar of Madrid
Notes:
There is no record of Perseus and Andromeda leaving the Spanish Royal collection, or even that the painting entered Spain, though it is likely that it entered the Alcazar because a copy was recorded there afterwards.
In 1626 Cassiano dal Pozzo described a copy of Perseus and Andromeda in the Alcazar of Madrid; Carducho in 1633 called it a copy as well, and it appears as a copy in the Alcazar inventories of 1636-1734, the Buen Retiro inventory of 1746, and sent to the Museo de Bellas Artes of Gerona in 1882, put into storage at the Prado 1971-1974.
Wethey, Harold. The Paintings of Titian, III (1975), pp. 169-171, cat. no. 30.
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Sequence: Itinerary 4 of 32
Owner Name: Antonio Perez
In possession from: Unknown to 1585
Location: La Casilla, Madrid
Notes:
Pérez Madrid inventory of 1585 lists "Andromeda encadenado y Perseo volando." The artist is unspecified. This may be a copy after Titian or the original, presumably a gift from Philip II. The same inventory lists two originals by Correggio, also without an unattributed artist.
It is unknown if the Leoni family purchased the original from Antonio Pérez in Madrid, or, if the Pérez inventory refers to a copy after Titian, Pompeo or Leone Leone in fact received the original Perseus and Andromeda as a gift from Philip II at an unknown date.
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Sequence: Itinerary 5 of 32
Owner Name: Bautista Leoni
In possession from: Unknown to 1605
Location: Casa degli Omenoni, Milan
Notes:
Death inventory of Bautista Leoni (1564-1605), son on Pompeo Leoni, lists in Milan household "una Andromeda encadenado y Perseo volando." This may be a copy or the original, in either case, it appears again in the inventory of the estate of Pompeo in 1609 upon Pompeo's death.
Wethey, vol. III, pp.171-2
Ingamells, (1982), p. 296Citations:
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Sequence: Itinerary 6 of 32
Owner Name: Pompeo Leoni
In possession from: 1605 to 1609
Location: Madrid
Notes:
Pompeo Leoni's death inventory of 1609 lists: "Una tabla grande de la Andromeda con Mercurio que mata a un dragón que viene del Ticiano."
Wethey, vol. III, p. 172
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Sequence: Itinerary 7 of 32
Owner Name: Anthony Van Dyck
In possession from: 1627 to 1632
Location: Antwerp
Notes:
Van Dyck could have purchased Perseus and Andromeda from the Leoni family in Milan during his travels in Italy (1627-1630), after which his collection of paintings was kept in Antwerp until he returned to England in 1632.
The drawing of Andromeda that appears in Van Dyck's Italian Sketchbook (fol. 110, verso) suggests that either Van Dyck saw the picture in Italy or a lost preparatory drawing.
Wood, Jeremy. "Van Dyck's 'Cabinet de Titien': The Contents and Dispersal of His Collection," The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 132, No. 1051 (Oct., 1990), pp. 680-695.
Gould, G. "The Perseus and Andromeda and Titian's Poesie," The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 105, (1963), pp. 112-117.
Citations: Wethey, Harold E. , The Paintings of Titian, v. 3 : The Mythological and Historical Paintings, (London: Phaidon, 1975) p. 170.
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Sequence: Itinerary 8 of 32
Owner Name: Anthony Van Dyck
In possession from: 1632 to 1641
Location: Blackfriars, London
Notes:
At Van Dyck's death in 1641, his London estate, inventoried in 1644, included Perseus and Andromeda. By 1645 the majority of this collection was moved back to Antwerp, excluding Perseus and Andromeda.
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Sequence: Itinerary 9 of 32
Owner Name: Anthony Van Dyck's estate
In possession from: 1641 to 1645
Location: London
Notes:
On the legal disputes over Van Dyck's estate, including his paintings, see Wood, "Van Dyck's 'Cabinet de Titien': The Contents and Dispersal of His Collection."
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Sequence: Itinerary 10 of 32
Owner Name: Sir John Wittewronge
In possession from: 1645 to 1645
Location: Rothamstead Manor
Notes:
Wittewronge, a distant relative of the second husband of Lady Van Dyck, petitioned for his right to Van Dyck's property and to stop its removal to Antwerp.
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Sequence: Itinerary 11 of 32
Owner Name: Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland
In possession from: 1645 to 1652
Location: Alnwick Castle
Notes:
Northumberland purchased Perseus and Andromeda from Wittewronge for £200.
See Wood, "Van Dyck's 'Cabinet de Titien': The Contents and Dispersal of His Collection," p. 684.
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Sequence: Itinerary 12 of 32
Owner Name: Francesco Cairo
In possession from: Unknown to 1665
Location: Milan
Notes:
Richard Symonds' account of his visit to Cairo's collection in Milan in September 1651 describes a Perseus and Andromeda that matches the Wallace Collection's canvas' dimensions. Perseus and Andromeda was inventoried in Cairo's possessions at his death in 1665.
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Sequence: Itinerary 13 of 32
Owner Name: Louis-Phelypeaux, Marquis de la Vrilière
In possession from: Unknown to 1681
Location: Hôtel de La Vrillière (Hôtel de Toulouse)
Notes:
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Sequence: Itinerary 14 of 32
Owner Name: Balthazar de la Vrillière, Marquis de Chateauneuf
In possession from: 1681 to 1705
Location: Hôtel de La Vrillière (Hôtel de Toulouse)
Notes:
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Sequence: Itinerary 15 of 32
Owner Name: Louis Raulin-Rouillé
In possession from: 1705 to 1712
Location: Hôtel de La Vrillière (Hôtel de Toulouse)
Notes:
Balthazar de la Vrilliére dies in debt and the Hôtel de La Vrillière and its contents is sold to Louis Raulin-Rouillé, who dies 1712.
Citations: Wethey, Harold E. , The Paintings of Titian, v. 3 : The Mythological and Historical Paintings, (London: Phaidon, 1975) p. 171.
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Sequence: Itinerary 16 of 32
Owner Name: Mme. Raulin-Rouillé
In possession from: 1713 to 1717
Location: Hôtel de La Vrillière (Hôtel de Toulouse)
Notes:
The widow of Louis Raulin-Rouillé sells the Hôtel de La Vrillière and its contents in 1713, but the deed of sale excludes Perseus and Andromeda. The painting remains in the Hôtel until 1717.
See Ingamells, p. 397.
Citations: Wethey, Harold E. , The Paintings of Titian, v. 3 : The Mythological and Historical Paintings, (London: Phaidon, 1975) p. 171.
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Sequence: Itinerary 17 of 32
Owner Name: Philippe II, Duc d'Orléans
In possession from: Unknown to 1723
Location: Palais Royal
Notes:
Philippe II dies 1723.
Citations: Wethey, Harold E. , The Paintings of Titian, v. 3 : The Mythological and Historical Paintings, (London: Phaidon, 1975) p. 171.
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Sequence: Itinerary 18 of 32
Owner Name: Duc d'Orléans
In possession from: 1723 to 1792
Location: Palais Royal
Notes:
By inheritance from Philippe II Duc d'Orléans (d. 1723), Louis, Duc d'Orléans (d. 1752), Louis-Philippe I (d. 1785), Louis-Philippe II (d. 1792).
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Sequence: Itinerary 19 of 32
Owner Name: Edouard de Walckiers
In possession from: 1792 to 1792
Location: Unknown
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Sequence: Itinerary 20 of 32
Owner Name: Francois-Louis-Joseph de Laborde-Mereville
In possession from: 1792 to 1795
Location: Rue d'Artois (Rue Laffitte)
Notes:
Ingamells identifies the residence as being on Rue Laffitte.
Citations: John Ingamells, ''Perseus and Andromeda': The Provenance' Burlington Magazine vol. 124 : 952 (July, 1982), page 398.
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Sequence: Itinerary 21 of 32
Owner Name: Francois-Louis-Joseph de Laborde-Mereville
In possession from: 1795 to 1798
Location: London
Notes:
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Sequence: Itinerary 22 of 32
Owner Name: Jeremiah Harman
In possession from: 1798 to 1798
Location: Higham House, Woolford
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Sequence: Itinerary 23 of 32
Owner Name: Bridgewater Syndicate
In possession from: 1798 to 1800
Location: Lyceum Theater, London
Notes:
Sold to dealer Michael Bryan, representing the Bridgewater Syndicate: Lord Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland, and Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle.
Pictures from the Orléans collection were displayed for sale in the Lyceum theater and at Bryan's gallery in Schomberg House, Pall Mall. The Bridgewater Syndicate did not reserve Perseus and Andromeda for themselves; it was unsold and was auctioned off in 1800 to Bryan himself.
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Sequence: Itinerary 24 of 32
Owner Name: Michael Bryan
In possession from: 1800 to 1805
Location: Schomberg House
Notes:
Haskell, Francis. The Ephemeral Museum: Old Master Paintings and the Rise of the Art Exhibition (Yale University Press, 2000), p. 24.
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Sequence: Itinerary 25 of 32
Owner Name: Sir Gregory Osborne Page Turner
In possession from: 1805 to 1815
Location: Portland Place
Notes:
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Sequence: Itinerary 26 of 32
Owner Name: Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, Lord Yarmouth, 3rd Marquess of Hertford
In possession from: 1815 to 1819
Location: Grosvenor Street
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Sequence: Itinerary 27 of 32
Owner Name: Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, Lord Yarmouth, 3rd Marquess of Hertford
In possession from: 1819 to Unknown
Location: The British Institution (British Gallery)
Notes:
Lord Yarmouth loaned Perseus and Andromeda to the British Institution starting in 1819.
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Sequence: Itinerary 28 of 32
Owner Name: Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, Lord Yarmouth, 3rd Marquess of Hertford
In possession from: 1822 to 1842
Location: Dorchester House
Notes:
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Sequence: Itinerary 29 of 32
Owner Name: Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford
In possession from: 1846 to 1852
Location: Pantechnicon building (storage), Motcomb Street
Notes:
The 4th Marquess inherited Perseus and Andromeda in 1842 at the death of his father but did not move the painting from Dorchester House until four years later.
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Sequence: Itinerary 30 of 32
Owner Name: Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford
In possession from: 1852 to 1870
Location: Hertford House, Manchester Square
Notes:
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Sequence: Itinerary 31 of 32
Owner Name: Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet
In possession from: 1871 to 1890
Location: Hertford House, Manchester Square
Notes:
By inheritance to Richard Wallace, illegitimate son of the 4th Marquess of Hertford.
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Sequence: Itinerary 32 of 32
Owner Name: Wallace Collection
In possession from: 1897 to Present
Location: Wallace Collection (Hertford House)
Notes:
Richard Wallace dies 1890, his widow in 1897, leaving to the nation the paintings "on the ground and first floors of Hertford House."
Citations: John Ingamells, ''Perseus and Andromeda': The Provenance' Burlington Magazine vol. 124 : 952 (July, 1982), page 399. Wethey, Harold E. , The Paintings of Titian, v. 3 : The Mythological and Historical Paintings, (London: Phaidon, 1975) p. 169.