ABSTRACT
In the winter of 1624-25, Balthazar Gerbier, the Duke of Buckingham’s art expert and a painter himself, was in Paris to look for Venetian old master paintings. 1 He was surprised to discover “so many rare works in Paris.” On November 17, Gerbier wrote to the Duke to inform him of his latest acquisitions – works by Titian, Tintoretto, and Giorgione. 2 He also sent him “a list of paintings in the hands of Lords in Paris,” that he hoped to acquire. 3 This list, recently published by Antoine Schnapper, is of great importance because it enables us to understand the circle of art collectors in Paris at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Gerbier first mentioned “Monsieur Blinville, Chevallier du St Esprit et Gentilhomme de la chambre du Roÿ,” followed by Villeroy, Souvré, and Montmorancy; he described the pictures of President Chevalier at length, and concluded his list with a painting of the “garde des tableaux du roi,” very likely one of the Douet brothers. If most of the collectors’ names are familiar today, one remains little known: “Monsieur Blinville,” who according to Gerbier possessed a beautiful painting, “un tableau du Tintoret, histoire de Schipion. Excellent.”
