Parma the Physician

David Teniers the Younger (Flemish, 1610–1690)

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (Italian (Venetian), about 1488–1576)

Medium/TechniqueOil on panel

DimensionsOverall: 17.1 x 12.1cm (6 3/4 x 4 3/4in.)

Credit LineGift of the Estate of Gardiner Howland Shaw

Accession number66.266

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPanels

Collections

Europe

ProvenanceFirst quarter 18th century, purchased by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (b. 1650 - d. 1722), Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England [see note 1]; by descent within the Dukes of Marlborough to George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough (b. 1844 - d. 1892), Blenheim Palace; July 24, 1886, Blenheim Palace sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, lot 102, probably to Henry Russell Shaw (b. 1859 - d. 1904) and Grace Lenox Rathbone Shaw (b. 1859 - d. 1911), Boston [see note 2]; 1911, by inheritance to their son, Gardiner Howland Shaw (b. 1893 - d. 1965), Boston [see note 3]; 1966, gift of the estate of Gardiner Howland Shaw to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 13, 1966)

NOTES:
[1] This is one in a group of oil copies Teniers made after paintings in the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. John Churchill, who began collecting for Blenheim Palace in the first decade of the 18th century, purchased 120 of these copies, which remained together at Blenheim until 1886. They are first mentioned in a letter of 1728. See James Methuen-Campbell, "Early Collections of Teniers's Copies for the Theatrum Pictorium," in David Teniers and the Theatre of Painting, ed. Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen (London, 2006), pp. 59-63. [2] According to notes in the MFA curatorial file, "Shaw" purchased the painting at the 1886 auction. Henry Russell Shaw's name is inscribed on the back of the frame. [3] The painting was first lent to the MFA in 1911 by the guardian of Gardiner Howland Shaw; the loan was transferred to his name in 1916.