MAASTRICHT.- The highlight sale at TEFAF Maastricht 2019 for Carlo Orsi – Trinity Fine Art was the magnificent marble portrait bust portraying Marguerite Louise of Orléans, wife of Cosimo III de’ Medici, created in 1687. Marguerite Louise was a free-spirited woman and the enfant terrible of the Medici dynasty, who eventually obtained a separation and returned to France , where she lived as she pleased, bringing even her cousin King Louis XIV to despair at her outrageous behaviour.

Carlo Orsi confirmed the sale to a new private European client for a seven-figure sum after it received substantial interest from collectors and museums world-wide. In the run up to TEFAF Maastricht several fresh discoveries had been made, including previously unpublished documents clarifying that the bust was commissioned by the Medici, that it is a fully autograph work by Giovanni Battista Foggini (Florence 1652-1725), a contention borne out by specific payments made to the sculptor, and that it was carved at an earlier date than formerly suggested.

It is a one of a series of eight masterful busts that celebrates the family of Ferdinando II of Florence, including his Cardinal brothers, and his son Cosimo and the future Grand Duchess Marguerite. This was the last bust from the group to remain on the market, as all of the others are now with European and American public collections, including the Louvre (Paris), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).

Another work of art connected with the Medicis also sold this week - the enigmatic Portrait of a Lady, possibly Caterina Soderini Ginori, from circa 1575 was painted by Jacopo Coppi, called Jacopo del Meglio (Florence 1546-1591). Coppi was among the artists working for Francesco I de’ Medici for his studiolo, one of the most evocative rooms in the Palazzo Vecchio, which represented one of the peaks of Florentine mannerism. The portrait is painted on a panel which would have formed a section of a boiserie, a decorative design typical of the interiors of the palaces of Florentine nobility. It sold for a six-figure sum to a new European collector.

Carlo Orsi comments: “We are very pleased to have sold these two portraits of women to European private clients who had never bought from us before. It is very encouraging that TEFAF is still offering a platform to meet new collectors previously unknown to us, which bodes well for future possibilities.”

Carlo Orsi – Trinity Fine Art also saw a lot of interest in the large, newly-discovered and unpublished early work by the influential Antwerp painter, draftsman and etcher Frans Floris de Vriendt (called Floris, 1519/20-1570), more renowned in his day than Bruegel the Elder. This important painting, depicting Susanna and the Elders, formed the centrepiece of the gallery’s stand and institutions from around the world showed particular interest.

Carlo Orsi – Trinity Fine Art are on Stand 379 at TEFAF Maastricht 2019 and the fair is open until Sunday, 24 March 2019.