Manius Curius Dentatus and the Samnite Ambassadors
Signature
signed, lower right: ‘J. g. Platzer’
Provenance
(Possibly) Elizaveta Petronova Romanova (1709–1762), Empress of Russia; by descent
Russian Imperial Family, Pavlovsk Palace, St. Petersburg
Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, Gemälde Alter Meister, 5 February 1929, lot 55
Sotheby’s, New York, Important Old Master Paintings, 19 May 1995, lot 188; acquired by
Private Collection, until 2024 when acquired by the present owner
Bibliography
Gotthard Agath, ‘Johann Georg Platzer, ein Gesellschafstmaler des Wiener Barocks (1704–1761)’, Belvedere: Monatsschrift für Sammler und Kunstfreunde, Vienna, 1929, vol. VIII, no. 3, pp. 82-83, reproduced p. 78 (identified as ‘The Ambassadors before Cincinnatus’).
Karl Plunger, Johann Georg Plazer 1704–1761: Der Rokokamaler aus dem Überetsch, Eine Gedächtnisschrift zum 225. Todestag, Eppan, 1986, cat. no. 36, p. 51 (identified as ‘The Ambassadors before Cincinnatus’).
Michael Krapf, Johann Georg Platzer: Der Farbenzauberer des Barock, 1704–1761, Zirndorf, 2014, cat. no. 175, reproduced p. 190 (identified as ‘The Ambassadors of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus’).
Essay
This impeccably preserved, dazzling painting on copper is a characteristic work by the greatest rococo Austrian artist Johann Georg Platzer. It represents Manius Curius Dentatus Rejecting the Gifts of the Samnite Ambassadors. On account of its rarity and similar subject matter it has sometimes been confused with the Calling of Cincinnatus, another heroic scene from the history of the Roman republic. Here we see Dentatus (so-called because he was said to have been born with teeth) in front of his hearth, roasting turnips. To his left his wife and son come through an open wooden door representing the virtue of family life, while to his right, two opulently dressed men with their attendants proffer extravagant gifts. Chests brimming over with jewels and golden treasures on the right contrast with a simple basket of turnips and a napkin in front of the fire. The general and consul is being asked by Rome’s enemies, the Samnites, to cease hostilities with them in return for a personal reward. According to the Roman statesman, Cato the Elder, Dentatus proclaimed that he would rather rule over men with gold than be ruled by it. This example of civic virtue was a natural, if ironic, choice of subject for a wise ruler. It was painted by Govert Flinck (1615–1660) for the Stadholder of the Dutch Republic and in the next century by the Venetian, Jacopo Amigoni (1682–1752).
Another treatment of this subject by Platzer was acquired by Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and is now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlung, Dresden (fig. 1). Although that composition is similar, with Dentatus centrally placed, in front of his hearth rejecting the entreaties and riches of the Samnites gathered on the right, while the family enters from the left, all the details including the architecture, the still life, and the figures are different. That is also painted on a smaller copper plate which measures 40.5 x 59 cm. The Dresden painting has always been paired with another work also depicting a story from classical antiquity, Solon and King Croesus (fig. 2). That too illustrates the ultimate worthlessness of worldly possessions, as the Greek philosopher challenges the legendarily wealthy Croesus and is later proven right as Croesus loses his son, his empire, and nearly his life, despite all his riches.
The painting of Solon and Croesus is of particular interest in what it tells us about Platzer’s development and influences as an artist. Platzer came from Passau in the Southern Tyrol where he was taught by his uncle, the court painter Jakob Christoph Platzer (1698–after 1720). The young Platzer then enrolled in the Vienna Academy which had re-opened in 1728. Vienna was a thriving cultural center whose love of art was encouraged by Emperor Charles VI. At the Academy, Platzer met Franz Christoph Janneck (1703–1761), and the two artists developed a shared interest in painting dense compositions of highly wrought and colorful figures, and both painted almost their entire oeuvre on copper. Of the two, Platzer is the most refined and his figures the most animated.
A crucial ingredient in Platzer’s development as an artist was his exposure to the exceptionally rich collections assembled by both Rudolf II (1552–1612) and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614–1662), which are now in Vienna. Of particular interest in this context is a work by Frans Francken the Younger which had been acquired by Archduke Leopold in Antwerp. It shows Solon and Croesus (fig. 3) and the compositional similarities to Platzer’s treatment made nearly one hundred years later are fascinating. In both works, one sees the richly dressed central character of King Croesus gesturing proudly towards his riches: silver and golden cups and ewers, pearl necklaces and precious statuettes piled high to one side. Both share the ambiguous indoor/outdoor setting. It is clear that Platzer had absorbed the work of his Flemish predecessor who was also a specialist in painting works on copper.
In addition, the still life details show Platzer’s familiarity with earlier design. The type of highly decorated ewers seen among the treasures in our Dentatus shows a knowledge of the ornate, mannerist goldsmithery of artists such as Jan Vermeyen (before 1559–1606) on view in the Vienna Schatzkammer (fig. 4). Equally, the exaggerated elegance of the figures with their elongated bodies and balletic gestures shows an awareness of Rudolphine painters such as Bartholomeus Spranger (1546–1611) (fig. 5).
Despite their frugal, republican message, paintings such as this were intended as opulent decorations for extravagant and sophisticated monarchs. It is no surprise that one version of the composition should be at the Zwinger in Dresden while our painting hung for many years in the Russian Imperial summer residence of the Pavlovsk Palace in St. Petersburg (fig. 6). It is thought that works by Platzer were given to Elizaveta Petronova Romanova, Empress of Russia (1709–1762) and the direct predecessor of Catherine the Great. In any case, there was clearly a taste for Platzer’s work at the Imperial Russian court as, when Stalin’s regime started to sell the Imperial and noble collections of art in 1928, six paintings by Platzer with an Imperial provenance were auctioned at Lepke in Berlin in 1928 and the following year.