Tuscan painter active towards the end of the 16th century

Tuscany, end of the 16th century

Oil on canvas, 64 x 47 cm., Framed 89 x 73 cm.

Short video of the work: https://youtu.be/KrTxWGYWj6c

The portrait we present to you shows the effigy of a vigorous high-ranking male figure in armor, in the most typical Renaissance pose, half-length and taken in profile, with his face and gaze turned to the side; the serious and intense expression and the facial features evoke at first glance the portraiture of early Florentine mannerism.

He is Niccolò III Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola and son of Aldobrandino Orsini, famous leader and captain (or capitano di ventura) who lived between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who served for the state Pontifical in Naples and Florence and above all for the Republic of Venice.

Portraiture with these characters, which derives from ancient coinage, was used in the sixteenth century in the sequences of Portraits of Illustrious Men, both in painting and in sculpture. The profile portrait was in fact a genre reserved, according to the Renaissance tradition, for celebrations, presenting those characteristics of imperturbability typical of the military role covered.

Our painting is a work created by an author active in Tuscany towards the end of the sixteenth century, adhering to those pictorial styles made famous by the portraitist Cristofano di Papi dell'Altissimo (1530-1605), a pupil of Bronzino and then of Pontormo, known for having created a collection of about 500 portraits of illustrious men, known as the 'Gioviana Series' (now in the Uffizi Gallery); and among these it is possible to identify one dedicated to Niccolò Orsini.

Our painting is inspired, in particular, by a print taken from the collection of prints by Aliprando Caprioli, '' Portraits of a hundred illustrious captains '' (Rome, 1596).
Link: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1866-1208-746

The work, like all our objects, is sold accompanied by a photographic expertise with descriptive card (FIMA Italy).

We take care and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.

For any information, feel free to contact us, without obligation.

Portrait of Niccolò Orsini of Pitigliano (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), from an engraving by Aliprando Caprioli "Portraits of a Hundred Illustrious Capitani" (Rome, 1596)

Follow us on: