Bidspirit auction | Anonymous, 19th century Europe –

Anonymous, 19th century Europe – Knight in armour - Painting depicting a half-length knight in armour, holding his mace in his right hand as he looks through an opening. He is sheltered by a semicircular architectural arch, the keystone of which bears a coat of arms that could be related to the person portrayed. The arch rests on a small pair of free-standing columns with smooth shafts, capitals and bases in the Romanesque style. The architectural ensemble is topped by a pair of crowned lions in rampant positions, each with foliage decoration of fingered palmettes that seem to sprout from between their claws. On the reverse side, there is a label that reads: ‘JUNTA DE INCAUTACION Y PROTEC- / CIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO ARTÍSTICO / ... / N.º de Inventario 3215 / Procedencia Borbon / 12’ (Board for the Seizure and Protection of Artistic Heritage / ... / Inventory No. 3215 / Provenance Borbon / 121). Without a doubt, this painting belonged to María Cristina de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias (1833–1902), Infanta of Spain and second wife of Infante Sebastián Gabriel de Borbón y Braganza (1811–1875), a figure in Spanish history better known for his outstanding collection of paintings of the highest calibre than for his political contribution to our nineteenth-century history. A collection of paintings that today is the pride of many foreign museums, while unfortunately causing embarrassment to art historians, museum institutions and descendants of the owners. Infante Don Sebastián was known not only for his love of collecting paintings, but also for practising this noble art himself. According to unpublished documentation located for this catalogue, the knight in armour is either a portrait, if the author of this canvas is unknown, or a self-portrait of the infante himself, in which case the canvas was possibly painted by him (see last photograph). Oil on canvas. 19th-century European school. Dimensions: 167 x 130 x 7 cm