16th century

Oil on panel

75 x 61 cm.
with frame 115 x 101 x 10 cm.

Provenance:

Private collection, Switzerland

Vienna Palais Dorotheum, 10.11.2020, lot 13 (Estimate: Eur 40,000- 60,000)

URL: https://www.dorotheum.com/it/l/6937663/

On that occasion, a historical-scientific and attributive study was drawn up by Prof. Carlo Falciani (Florence, February 2020).

The high-quality portrait on offer was attributed by Carlo Falciani (on the occasion of its sale at Dorotheum in 2020) to the painter Santi di Tito, not only one of the most influential figures on the Florentine art scene, but also the most interesting portrait painter in the city in the second half of the 16th century.

The scholar has specifically dated it to the late 1570s, a period coinciding with the most fruitful and happy years of the Florentine painter's career. Santi di Tito contributed to the overcoming of late Mannerism in the name of a return to classicist and neo-Quattrocento realism.

The attribution of this portrait to the painter is immediately evident in the unmistakable oval shape and firmness of the face, rendered with a compact pinkish complexion that retains a touch of light and natural sensitivity in line with the dictates of the Counter-Reformation, of which the painter was one of the most faithful proponents on the Florentine scene.

Also typical of his style is the firm and voluminous representation of the dress, finely defined in the small intagli of the embroidery, but at the same time typically simplified in the sleeves and bust; the luminous notation with which the design is revealed through compact but subtle and transparent layers, or the large white ruff that gives a clear light to the entire painting are also his distinctive signature.

As suggested by the scholar, we can compare our painting to the ‘Portrait of Guido Guardi with his children’ [1], from a private collection, painted between 1564 and 1568 and exhibited at the exhibition Il Cinquecento a Firenze (Palazzo Strozzi 2017-2018, no. IV. 5, pp. 156-157); in this, although it is a male portrait, Santi di Tito uses the same formal style in the rendering of the faces and ruffs. In the present portrait, too, the solid volume and powerful figure of the character are set against a monochrome background, similar to that of Guido Guardi with his children.

Santi di Tito trained in Florence in the workshop of Bronzino, from whom he learned a preference for rounded, luminous volumes, to which he added an attention to compositional clarity and naturalism imposed by the dictates of the Counter-Reformation, which led him to study the style of Scipione Pulzone and the Zuccari, whom he met both in Florence and during his stay in Rome.

Over the years, the influence of Bronzino became increasingly evident in his work, which became softer and more sensitive, with ever greater naturalness, as can be seen in our Portrait of a Woman.

Judging by the level of his commissions, Santi di Tito became one of the most important Florentine portraitists of his time, and this role derives precisely from his pictorial skill and his interest in naturalism, combined with his knowledge of the Florentine drawing tradition, which placed him, like Allori, as the natural heir to the path opened up by Bronzino.

[1] Santi di Tito (Florence 1563-1603) Portrait of Guido Guardi with his children

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with a pleasant gilded frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic card.

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