CORNELIS SCHUT Antwerp, Belgium (1629) / Seville (1685) "Po

Oil on canvas. Provenance: London, Christie's auction of June 5, 1966, lot 86 (as Murillo with an apocryphal signature of Velazquez); Paris, private collection; Madrid, private collection. Bibliography: MARTINEZ DEL VALLE, G., La imagen del poder. El retrato sevillano del siglo XVII, Seville, 2010, pp. 186-187, plate 105. This imposing portrait depicts Juan Bautista Priaroggia, a prestigious Italian merchant from Genoa who settled in Cadiz in the last third of the 17th century. He appears in a room of his Cadiz residence, seated in an armchair and holding in his left hand a letter addressed to him, which allows for his identification. His status as a distinguished gentleman is reinforced by the sword that appears obliquely behind his legs. Its formal and stylistic characteristics allowed it to be attributed more than a decade ago to Cornelis Schut, who trained as a painter in Antwerp but settled in Seville around 1650. In this city, he married and passed his examination as a master painter, becoming a member of the Academy of Painting that Murillo founded in 1660. This information demonstrates the formal similarities between this work and the well-known portrait that Murillo painted of Justino de Neve, as well as the fact that when it appeared on the market in 1966, it was attributed to Murillo himself. According to literary and artistic sources, Cornelis Schut had a particular talent for portraiture, a fact that is perfectly evident in this composition, which stands out for its precise drawing and harmonious color palette. Schut must have met the subject during his time in Cadiz, around 1669-1670, which allows us to date the painting to this period. He was likely drawn to the city by its thriving maritime trade with Europe and America, receiving commissions from the merchants and bankers established there. Juan Bautista Priaroggia wears elegant attire befitting his economic standing. In his expression, Schut perfectly captures a psychological profile in which the sitter displays a certain haughtiness, yet one can still sense the merchant's pride and satisfaction at having attained a prominent social position. In his study of 17th-century Sevillian portraiture, Gonzalo Martinez del Valle describes this work as the most complex painted by Cornelis Schut and also as one of the highest quality works in his oeuvre. Dimensions: 183.5 x 129.5 cm.