A
different owner brought two paintings, much older and smaller to me, and they offered singular puzzles
of attribution. Both were damaged and covered with grime and dark varnish. There is little doubt that they are
17th-century Italian paintings for stylistic reasons, materials used, and obvious signs of age, including old, inept
repairs. Neither was signed and, after the death of the original Spokane collector, his heirs threw away whatever
useful documentation there may have been.
One of these pictures, however, has two curious inscriptions pasted to the back assigning authorship to Italian
Baroque painter Guido Reni (1575 – 1642), one of the most celebrated artists of his age. “The only portion intact of
a picture by Guido Reni in a suppressed convent three miles from Prato,” reads one, followed in a different hand by
“Angel of the Annunciation, fragment of an original oil painting by Guido Reni, formerly existing in the now suppressed convent of - near Figline - near Prato.” The former is signed in a flowery script, “JB Philpot.” Also on the
back of the canvas is a label saying, “Sold by Philpot & Jackson Picture Dealers” with an address in Florence. What
can be verified from the information in these texts?
Detail of the Annunciation by Guido Reni, (circa 1629), commissioned
for the chapel of Santa Maria della Carità, Ascoli Piceno, now in the
Pinacoteca Civica, Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Photo: Public Domain
John Brampton Philpot (1812-1878) was an English
photographer who settled in Florence to become a leading
figure in the history of photography there. His subjects included views of the city and facsimiles of art works. Philpot’s establishment is listed in Baedeker’s travelers guide to
northern Italy (1877) for “photographs from the drawings
in the Uffizi” at the address given on the label. The author
of the second inscription is unknown but could have been
Jackson, another photographer who worked with Philpot.
Philpot and Jackson inscriptions
& Philpot and Jackson label
Photo: J. Craig Sweat Photography
40 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE