Pieter de Witte, known as Pietro Candido, 1548 Bruges - 1628 Munich, attributed MARS Oil on

Pieter de Witte, known as Pietro Candido,
1548 Bruges - 1628 Munich, attributed MARS Oil on canvas. 141 x 53 cm. Inscribed ''MARTE'' at centre below. Pieter de Witte (also known as 'Peter Candid' or 'Pietro Candido') went to Italy as a very young man together with this father Pietro di Elia, a famous tapestry maker; he stayed in Florence for a long time, where he worked with Vasari, but also visited Volterra and Rome. In 1586 he came to the court of Duke William V of Bavaria where he remained. P. de Witte became one of the most enterprising painters of Bavaria and played a fundamental part in Munich's artistic boom between the 16th and 17th century. De Witte created major altarpieces in Munich and Augsburg and left a large number of works such as wall painting cycles, drawings for engravings and designs for a series of tapestries intended for the Munich Residence. Belonging to the latter are also tapestries, dedicated to the Count Palatine Otto of Wittelsbach, the founder of the Bavarian royal dynasty. The present work was created between 1615 and 1620. In all probability it was commissioned by Duke Maximilian I, the successor of William V, as part of the magnificent extension of the Residence Palace in Munich. As part of this, an enormous number of paintings were commissioned, which were supposed to meet the complex Italian style of the time. The entire painterly design was assigned to Pieter de Witte and his assistants. A vertical depiction of the god Mars as Allegory of the Art of War with the inscription ''Marte'' at the central picture margin hung in the audience chamber of the then just finished Trier; there was also a counterpart, namely the ''Allegory of Science''. In the course of the comprehensive alterations of this wing of the Residence (between 1800 and 1804) the Mars painting (no. 1143, inventory list of 1804) was relocated to the Hofgarten (Court Garden) storage rooms and sold in a public sale at Schleissheim Palace in 1851. The present painting displays an exceptional balance between monumentality, Classicism and (typical Florentine) graphically skilfulness; North European influences of late Mannerism, which are typical for Peter Candid's allegories realized for Maximilian I. in the Residence, can also be distinguished. Provenance: Commissioned by Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria, 1615 - 1620 for the Trier Rooms of the Residence Palace, Munich. From 1804 onwards in the Hofgarten depot, inv. no. 1143. Sold from Schleissheim Palace in 1851. Literature: Baldassare Pistorini, Descritione compendiosa del palagio sede de' Serenissimi di Baviera, situato nella elettorale città di monaco, 1644, unpub. ms. (Munich, Bavarian State Library, cod. ital. 409). H. Bauer, B. Rupprecht, Corpus der Barocken Deckenmalerei in Deutschland, vol. 3, II, Freistaat Bayern, Regierungsbezirk Oberbayern. Stadt und Landkreis München: Profanbauten, bearb. A. Bauer-Wild, B. Volk-Knüttel, Munich, 1989, pp. 140-42, 152.

Pieter de Witte, bekannt als Pietro Candido, 1548 Brügge - 1628 München, zug. Mars Öl auf Leinwand. 141 x 53 cm. Mittig unten bezeichnet "MARTE". Gerahmt. Pieter de Witte (bekannt auch als Peter Candid oder Pietro Candido) ging als sehr junger Mann mit seinem Vater Pietro D'Elia, einem bekannten Bildwirker, nach Italien. Er blieb lange Zeit in Florenz, wo er mit Vasari zusammenarbeitete, besuchte jedoch auch Volterra und Rom. 1586 kam er an den Hof des Herzogs Wilhelm V von Bayern. Pieter de Witte wurde zu einem der unternehmendsten Maler Bayerns und spielte bei Münchens künstlerischem Aufschwung zwischen dem 16. und dem 17. Jahrhundert eine tragende Rolle. In München und Augsburg schuf de Witte bedeutende Altarbilder und hinterließ eine große Anzahl an Werken sowie Wandgemäldezyklen, Zeichnungen für Stiche und Entwürfe für eine Serie von Wandteppichen, die für die Münchner Residenz bestimmt waren. Zu letzteren gehören auch die dem Pfalzgrafen Otto von Wittelsbach, dem Begründer der bayerischen