Porträt des Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia (1751-1819)

(Turin before 1772-after 1792) Portrait of King Carlo Emanuele IV of Sardinia in a general’s uniform, decorated with the chain of the Annunciata order and the large cross of the order of St. Mauritius and Lazarus. As the eldest son of King Vittorio Amadeo III of Sardinia, Carlo Emanuele inherited one of the largest Italian states on his accession to the throne, consisting of Nice as well as Sardinia and Piemont. As an avowed enemy of the French Republic, he had to surrender to French troops in 1798 and abdicate. All that remained to him was Sardinia. In 1799 Carlo Emanuele withdrew to Rome where he resided in the Palazzo Colonna, which today houses the Dorotheum in Rome. On the death of his wife, the French princess, Marie Clothilde, sister of King Louis XVI, Carlo Emanuele abdicated from the throne in favour of his brother, Vittorio Emanuele. As a widow he entered a Jesuit monastery and took the lower orders. As court painter to the Savoye dynasty, Giovanni Panealbo made many portraits of the family. After training with Pompeo Batoni, which is evident in his gently idealising classicism, he became the most prominent portrait painter at the Turin court. A very similar portrait of Carlo Emanuele is to be found in the Castello di Racconigi. We are grateful to Dr Clelia Arnaldi di Balme, Museo Civico, Turin, for the attribution of this painting to Panealbo. She informs us that there is a copy of this painting in the Palazzo Madama, Turin, (correspondence with the consignor dated 11.05. 2009). In the original classicing gilded frame dating from around 1780.