First rate selection - Old Master Paintings at Dorotheum Vienna on 13th April - VIDEO

Vienna (OTS) - A first rate selection of several old masters'
finest work - complete with excellent credentials - provides the
prime focus of interest for the upcoming auction week at Dorotheum
Vienna, the biggest auction house in the german speaking countries.
A longed-for idea of an earthly paradise, raised to the level of
mythological Arcadia, is the subject of a particular painting coming
up for sale at the Dorotheum auction of old master paintings on 13th
April 2011. Titled "The Golden Age", the painting also comes with an
illustrious name attached: Frans Francken II., creator of the
allegory on virtue and vice sold last year at Dorotheum for more than
Euro 7 million, the current Continental European auction record for
any old master painting.

What sets the present painting apart is that it was the work not
of one but of five painters, also involving Frans' brother Ambrosius
Francken, Hans Jordaens III, Abraham Govaerts and Alexander Keirincx.
The resulting shepherds' idyll probably represents one of the
earliest Arcadian scenes painted north of the Alps. According to
Dorotheum expert Alexander Strasoldo, the painting represents "an
exquisite example of the preeminent position that Antwerp painting
had achieved in early 17th century Europe" (estimate: Euro 400.000 -
600.000).

Additional highlights of this auction will include the study of a
male head by Annibale Carracci, in which he captures a bearded
character in oil on paper, seemingly without effort or artifice. One
of Carracci's fellow proponents of Bolognese painting, il Guercino,
provides a large-scale spectacle of a special kind: His painting
depicts a youth in the dual aspect of virtuous Cupid and allegory of
the arts. Many of the Italian paintings at this auction come from
important collections preserved by Europe's nobility.Valerio Castello
(1625-1659) contributes a large-scale Holy Family's Flight to Egypt
of matchless dramatic appeal. It represents an art-historical
discovery and was attributed based on a study found in the collection
of Franz Ferdinand, former heir to the Austrian throne and victim to
assassination (Euro 200.000 - 300.000). Giovan Francesco Romanelli's
museum-quality oil painting Death of Cleopatra joined the other
top-lots presented at this auction directly from the family for whom
it was originally created (Euro 100.000 - 150.000).

Video(s) zu dieser Aussendung finden Sie im AOM/Original Video
Service, sowie im OTS Videoarchiv unter http://video.ots.at

Rückfragehinweis:
Press Officer: Mag. Doris Krumpl
Tel.: + 43-1-515 60-406
mailto:[email protected]
Catalogues online: www.dorotheum.com

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