Lot 376: Gennaro Basile , Naples 1722 - 1782 Brno Self-portrait oil on canvas

oil on canvas

measurements note 25 by 19 in.; 63.5 by 48.3 cm.

C.J. Wawra;
By whom (anonymously) sold, Vienna, Dorotheum, March 8, 1927, lot 146, for 800 francs to Otto Copony;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

According to Meyer (see J. Meyer, Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, Leipzig 1885, vol. III), there was once a self-portrait by Gennaro Basile in the collection of the Schloss Leopoldskron, Austria. The once extensive collection of portraits, including those by artists such as Poussin, Rembrandt and Rubens, was disposed of by the end of the 19th century. The present painting may be identifiable with Basile's self-portrait once in the Schloss.

This painting was signed or inscribed on the reverse Genaro Basili (see fig. 1) before being relined in 1965.