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19th Century Oil on Board Painting "La Principessa" Antique Italian - $400 (San Diego)
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In the unlikelihood that you have any information about the piece, please forward it along, thanks!
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Thank you for looking. This is an old oil painting dated 1869 with some damage (cracks) and retouching. The painting seems commissioned as a portrait of a young princess seated at a keyboard (harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano) with some of her lesson books on the ground in the parlor. I have not been able to find anything definitive about it. The caption reads 'Principessa Clotilda Giuseppe Rocca Turin' in a mix of upper-case and lower-case letters. It is curious that it is captioned in the first place and the mystery (for me, at least) only deepens from there.
I have thought perhaps that it is related to the luthier Giuseppe Rocca (1807-1865) who may have fathered a daughter with his fourth or fifth wife and who produced in Turin and Genoa, however his (daughter's) status seems inconsistent with the opulence in the portrait. I have also tried to link it to a number of fortresses, castles, or strongholds (Rocca) but none seem to bear the name Giuseppe. I wonder about the Anglicized version of 'Turin' (usually Torino) in the caption though it is a little hard to define the last letter - could be 'Turia'? but seems unlikely. I don't think the painter's name is Giuseppe Rocca as that search did not pan out.
My other big thought was that it is somehow tied to the house of Savoy and, in particular, Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy (sometimes called Princess Clotilde, Clothilde, or Clotilda). The biggest problem with this, of course, is the date of the painting which would make the Princess (born 1843 in Turin) 26 years-old at the time of the painting. Perhaps it was the fashion at the time to have your portrait done as a child but, if the date is correct, this rejuvenation seems unlikely. The princess did however spend time in Moncalieri (in Turin province and very near Turin city) and the castle there was her favorite residence. This return to Turin seems to have happened later (1878?) in her life but she would also likely have spent her first 15 or 16 years prior to her marriage (arranged in 1858) there as well. There is indeed some resemblance to the youngest portrait I can find of the princess - particularly the dark hair with center part and high forehead.
As you can see I have spent some time trying to get to the bottom of this. The provenance of the piece at auction provided no more than I have related here. I see the date of 1869 on the folio depicted in the painting and it is possible the caption is a later addition to the painting with the date culled from there. There are no other clues that I can add. Certainly the style of the painting, the dress, the pose and the decor of the room will give an expert a clue. The board or panel that the painting are on could help to date it as well. The frame, like I said, is not original and is for an 11.25 x 15.5 inch painting and this painting is 14 x 17. It has been nailed to the frame with small brads. I was able to pull them out easily enough by hand to photograph the last obscured portion on the lower right where the date and the word 'Turin' appears.
It is almost certain that this painting has been retouched at some point. There are some strange washes of color especially on the hand, forehead, and back/shoulders/chest that have a slightly different finish (gloss) when illuminated from the side. These areas where the finish does not appear lacquered over also include some areas on the drapery of the dress, the foliage surrounding the fish bowl, the urn that rests on the mantle, and the odd washes of grey and brown that adorn the wall right and left of the figure. These all center somewhat on the aforementioned 'cracks' in the varnish. These should be pretty apparent in the photos. I would say there are three: one that runs the entire width from the top surface of the 'piano', through the hand and over to the fish bowl, a second that runs back through the figure's shoulder and terminates near the sheet of music, and a third that returns to the top area of the fish bowl passing through the forehead. I would guess that a crack occurred that required the retouching of the painting by a less-expert hand since all the retouching occurs in this 'Z'-shaped area of cracking.
Please feel free to ask any questions or forward any information about the painting. I've mentioned almost everything I have surmised about it but I will do my best if you need more information than I have provided. This painting is available for local pick up only. Again, let me know if you have any questions and thanks for looking.
“This appears to be an oil painting on board or panel. The frame is not original nor appropriately sized for the piece but is included. There may be some retouching to the piece and there seems to be lacquer cracks or scratches across the panel - these should be apparent in the photographs.”