19th century ITALIAN SCHOOL in the Renaissance style - Lot 31

19th century ITALIAN SCHOOL in the Renaissance style Portrait of a man White marble bust Titled in French on the pedestal "Comte Roch de Cianelli/ ambassadeur de François I de Médicis/ Près du/ roy catholique Henri IIIe /de France / A l'occasion de leur avènement/en 1574". Dim. 90 x 80 cm, on a white and green marble pedestal Minor accidents Provenance: Salle des bustes, Château de Goudourville (Tarn et Garonne), Château de Lamonzie Montastruc; French private collection. Bibliography: -Gonzague de Cianelli de Serans, Notice historique de la famille Cianelli de Sérans, Imprimerie Georges Forestié, 1924 p.8. This spectacular marble ceremonial bust was probably created to join a gallery of ancestors that was still very much in vogue on private estates in the 19th century. It is attested in 1924 in the so-called "bust room" of the Château de Goudourville (Tarn et Garonne) acquired by the des Grottes family in 1876. Gonzague de Cianelli de Sérans (d. 1938), husband of Marie des Grottes since 1912 (d. 1937), mentions other portraits in his publication entitled Notice historique de la famille Cianelli de Sérans. With a print run of two hundred copies, the work praises the Cianelli family, originally from Lucca. The author wished both to demonstrate his family's attachment to the French crown and to assert the high distinction of his lineage. He states: "In addition to the doges and senators of the Republic of Lucca mentioned above, there are a number of prominent figures who had notable alliances with women of high quality, many of whom have their marble bust or portrait preserved in the family gallery of the Château de Goudourville". Among these works, he lists the bust of Thomas de Cianelli (1560-1620) appointed Admiral of the Venetian Fleet, the painted portrait and bust of a Rocco Cianelli (1602-1650) as well as our bust identified as another Rocco Cianelli, who is said to have been ambassador to François I de Médicis in 1574. A 1968 photo shows this room in the Château de Gourdouville emptied of its contents, with the exception of our bust. The bust, impressive in its size, shows a middle-aged man luxuriously dressed in the fashion of the 1570s, with collar, coat and festoon. The composition is directly inspired by Italian sculptural portraits of the period, in the spirit of Guglielmo della Porta or Taddeo Carlone. The facial features are very similar to those of François I de Médicis. The festoon features the fleur-de-lys, the Medici emblem, alternating in crosses with cornflowers, the Cianelli family coat of arms. The modern title written in French on the pedestal indicates that he was Count Roch de Cianelli, ambassador of Francis I de' Medici to the Catholic King Henry III of France on the occasion of their accession in 1574. However, cross-referencing ancient and modern genealogical sources, as well as diplomatic sources, do not confirm the existence of a Roch de Cianelli, ambassador of Grand Duke François I to the French court in 1574, this position having been given to Vincenzio Alamanni (1536-1590). While it is common practice to work the surfaces of garments with motifs reminiscent of rich velvet or brocade fabrics, as can be seen on the busts of Alessandro Vittoria, it is not at all customary to include the portrait's coat of arms. The cornflowers (ciani in Italian) are a late addition, dating from the 18th century, introduced by the Cianelli branch of Naples, from which Gonzague Cianelli de Serans descended. While the French branch of the Cianelli Serans only dates back to 1858, with the marriage in Florence of Lucca patrician Pierre de Cianelli (Naples 1817- Florence 1889) to Marie Le Petit de Serans (1840-?), his son Gonzague de Cianelli Serans probably either inherited or commissioned this spectacular work in a historicist vein, as was the fashion at the time, with the idea of reinforcing family continuity through the creation of pseudo-genealogical portraits.