Johann Heinrich Schönfeld

Probably commissioned by Count Guidobald Thun (1616–1668), Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, circa 1655;

His collection, Salzburger Residenz, Salzburg, until 1803;

Dr Francis W. Lewis, Pennsylvania;

By whom probably gifted to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Pennsylvania, by 1908 (as Bartholomeus van der Helst);

Anonymous sale (‘Property of an Anonymous East Coast Educational Institution’), New York, Christie’s, 4 June 1986, lot 86 (as attributed to Sebastien Bourdon);

With Piero Corsini Gallery, New York, in 1986;

From whom acquired by the present owner.

Listed in the 1727 inventory of the Salzburger Residenz, no. 10;

Listed in the 1750 inventory of the Salzburger Residenz, no. 64;

L. Hübner, Beschreibung der hochfürstlich-erzbischöflichen Haupt- und Residenzstadt Salzburg und ihrer Gegenden, Salzburg 1793, vol. II, p. 582, no. 25;

Listed in the 1802 inventory of the Salzburger Residenz, no. 24;

K. von Radinger, ‘Gemälde im Städtischen Museum in Salzburg’, in Blätter für Gemäldekunde, vol. 6, December 1910 – January 1911, p. 126 (as current whereabouts unknown; painted for Max Gandolph von Kuenburg (1622–1687), Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in circa 1669);

J.J. de Gelder, Bartholomeus van der Helst, Rotterdam 1921, p. 186, no. 239 (as Bartholomeus van der Helst);

H. Pée, Johann Heinrich Schönfeld, Berlin 1971, pp. 219–20, listed under no. K23 (as current whereabouts unknown);

C. Klemm, in Du Greco à Mondrian, B. Wismer (ed.), exh. cat., Lausanne 1997, pp. 20–23, reproduced in colour.

Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage, Du Greco à Mondrian, 24 January – 27 April 1997.

Depicting a youthful violinist caught in a moment of expressive performance, this canvas serves as the allegory of Hearing. The musician's parted lips and uplifted gaze suggest a moment of musical rapture, further enhanced by his billowing white sleeves, delicately tied with black ribbons.

Commissioned around 1655 by Count Guidobald Thun (1616–1668), Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg this evocative painting forms part of a celebrated series of five canvases representing the Five Senses. Long presumed lost, the series was known only through a set of copies painted in 1743 by Philipp Jacob Nickhl, a pupil of Jan Kupezky active in Salzburg, that entered the collection of the Salzburg Museum in around 1910.¹ It is one of only two original paintings from the series to have survived—the other being the Allegory of Touch in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.²

Count Guidobald Thun, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1654 until his death in 1668, was a pivotal figure in the cultural flourishing of the Salzburg court during the mid-17^th century. A shrewd ecclesiastical statesman and an enlightened patron of the arts, Thun was instrumental in transforming Salzburg into a vibrant center of Baroque culture, attracting to his court leading artists, architects, and musicians from across Europe. He is best known for overseeing the completion of the towers, façade and domes of Salzburg Cathedral. His likeness is captured by Schönfeld in a monumental three-quarter-length portrait dated 1654 in the Residenzgalerie, Salzburg.³

¹ Inv. nos 198 a–25, 435–49, 259–49, 261–49 and 260–49; https://sammlung-online.salzburgmuseum.at/detail/collection/ee8e746c-2d3f-4171-a719-f7d1faa16617; https://sammlung-online.salzburgmuseum.at/detail/collection/01e4b9da-a1ac-46f4-849f-53092d3c1e91; https://sammlung-online.salzburgmuseum.at/detail/collection/be2c0352-7e88-457e-afb9-2ac106262f5b; https://sammlung-online.salzburgmuseum.at/detail/collection/deaa21ef-d6d4-48ae-998d-76d1af19024a

² Inv. no. 2297; oil on canvas; 99 x 77 cm.; https://www.khm.at/kunstwerke/gefuehl-1745

³ Inv. no. 19; oil on canvas; 195.50 x 122 cm.; https://www.domquartier.at/en/residenzgalerie-collection-online/paintings/count-guidobald-thun-1616-castelfondo-1668-salzburg-prince-archbishop-of-salzburg-1654-1668/#:~:text=19-,Count%20Guidobald%20Thun%20(1616%20Castelfondo%2D1668%20Salzburg)%2C%20Prince,of%20Salzburg%20(1654%2D1668)&text=Description%3A,consecration%20on%2024%20September%201654