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and one’s colleagues in the sector can be totally unprincipled!
Thus itmightbesaidthatSignorGuidowasinstrumentalinleading
me into the art world since, without my felicitous discovery
of the Martyrdom of St. Catherine in the private Ligurian chapel
owned by the Marchese Rolandi Ricci, an old-style gentleman
and a true friend who always showed me kindness, I might never
have become an art dealer. Instead I might have followed my
late father’s wishes and become a banker or a diplomat11. I am
sure that both professions can be inspiring and even interesting,
yet despite the relative decline of the Old Master market and
its hijacking by the international auction houses12 they would
have provided a lot less fun. Even though I no longer find great Fig. 5.
paintings in hay barns, cellars or apartments, the last 50 years in
the trade have been entirely enjoyable, invigorating and even, occasionally, inspiring. I would not have indulged,
for preference, in any other profession.

I here express my profound gratitude to Keith Christiansen for his coup de foudre which triggered the idea of writing
this publication, also to Aidan Weston-Lewis and Erich Schleier who encouraged me from the very early days. I
particularly record my debt and appreciation to Francesca Cappelletti, Elena Fumagalli and Catherine Johnston,
since all patiently provided me with invaluable critiques. My thanks also to Laura Aineslahti, Daniele Benati,
Martina Pichler, Lorenzo Pericolo, Richard Rand, Jeanne Teston, Tiziana Sassoli, Richard Spear, Nicholas Turner,
Clare Wadsworth, Joanna Watson and of course, as always, to Beverly Brown.

Patrick Matthiesen

10. Alas, I am almost embarrassed to recount that I experienced an almost identical debacle a few years earlier with the scions of
the most noted Genoese nobility who considered themselves quasi-royalty. There I had been invited to advise as to whether
there was anything of value or interest in their villa in Arenzano which was to be purchased by the local comune. I had freely
given advice on pictures which could otherwise have been bought for a pittance, unattributed and unacknowledged. They are
now in the same museum as the Reni Joseph and Potiphar. See P.Matthiesen, ‘Amber varnish and Orazio Gentileschi’s Lot and
His Daughters’, Burlington Magazine, Volume 143, 2001, p. 162.

11. See Joseph Wright of Derby: Virgil’s Tomb and the Grand Tour in Naples, Matthiesen Gallery, 2012, p. 29.
12. See ‘Foreword,’ 2001: An Art Odyssey, Matthiesen Gallery, 2001, pp. 21-29.

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