Portrait Of Bianca Cappello, Grand Duchess Of Tuscany, By Scipione Pulzone, Known As Il Gaetano (1544
Artist: Scipione Pulzone, Dit Il Gaetano (gaeta 1544 - Rome 1598) - Atelier De
Scipione Pulzone, known as Il Gaetano (Gaeta 1544 – Rome 1598) – workshop of
Portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 – 1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany, second wife of Francesco I de’ Medici
Second half of the 16th century
oil on canvas, 70 x 56 cm, framed 103 x 87 cm.
Full details of the work at this link
The painting shown here depicts Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 – 1587), a noblewoman of Venetian origin and the second wife of Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Her expressive power is skillfully highlighted by the slightly three-quarter compositional angle, with her head and gaze directed toward the viewer. The beam of light coming from the right sculpturally highlights the contours of her face and softens her features, accentuated by the wide white lace ruff encircling her neck and the details of her exquisite attire.
Bianca wears a dark red gown—perhaps a zimarra—embroidered in gold with a deep neckline and a high shirt collar gathered into a ruff, which is also edged with precious lace embroidered with the Florentine lily motif.
The noblewoman’s favorite jewelry was pearls: we see them on a choker adorning the neckline, in her earrings, and even in her hairstyle, where her hair is gathered at the nape of her neck and adorned with a string of small black pearls and embellished with a clasp.
This is a painting of the highest quality that can be attributed to the workshop of the painter Scipione Pulzone, known as “il Gaetano,” and it exemplifies the genre of portraiture in which the master excelled. This attribution is supported by comparisons with the numerous portraits Pulzone painted for the Medici family.
Our painting, in particular, may represent one of the versions that the workshop replicated at the request of numerous art-collecting patrons eager to own a portrait of one of the most influential figures on the Florentine scene.
The figures depicted by Pulzone were icons of incomparable elegance: noblewomen, knights, and clergymen lent their likenesses to the artist’s eye, which, through his superb technique, captured every minute detail. A photographic richness and a surprising attention to texture that echo the Flemish-inspired pictorial prototypes, particularly those of Antonis Mor (Utrecht 1520 – Antwerp 1578), who also worked in Rome and who would earn Pulzone the nickname “Van Dyck of the Roman school.”
His portraits highlight the characteristic signs of the exercise of power, both in the clothing and regalia and in the facial expressions and poses. The aristocrats appear to us as figures fully aware of their social status, and although their stillness and solemnity may at first glance seem cold or impersonal, they exude the subtle charm of a “timeless” art.
First documented in Rome in 1562, Pulzone soon came into contact with the most important aristocratic families of the second half of the sixteenth century, becoming the official portraitist of the city’s nobility and ecclesiastical leadership. The first to recognize his talent as a portraitist was Marcantonio II Colonna, victor of the Battle of Lepanto against the Turks (1571). It was he who opened the doors for Pulzone to the great Roman families, followed by commissions from the Medici in Florence.
The earliest works, in chronological order, are characterized by an optical and lenticular exploration, by a lucid focus on details, applied to both faces and garments through a glassy painterly texture. There is no doubt that Gaetano’s technical skill—which in some cases reaches the level of mimetic excellence—contributed to his fame. The closer one gets to his final years, the more this characteristic loses its prominence; not only in his portraits does he shift toward a realism of more immediate human contact, to which this portrait seems to adhere.
In exceptionally good condition, this painting is complete with a beautiful ebonized “wave-pattern” frame in the Flemish style.
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Portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 – 1587), Grand Duchess of Tuscany, second wife of Francesco I de’ Medici
Second half of the 16th century
oil on canvas, 70 x 56 cm, framed 103 x 87 cm.
Full details of the work at this link
The painting shown here depicts Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 – 1587), a noblewoman of Venetian origin and the second wife of Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Her expressive power is skillfully highlighted by the slightly three-quarter compositional angle, with her head and gaze directed toward the viewer. The beam of light coming from the right sculpturally highlights the contours of her face and softens her features, accentuated by the wide white lace ruff encircling her neck and the details of her exquisite attire.
Bianca wears a dark red gown—perhaps a zimarra—embroidered in gold with a deep neckline and a high shirt collar gathered into a ruff, which is also edged with precious lace embroidered with the Florentine lily motif.
The noblewoman’s favorite jewelry was pearls: we see them on a choker adorning the neckline, in her earrings, and even in her hairstyle, where her hair is gathered at the nape of her neck and adorned with a string of small black pearls and embellished with a clasp.
This is a painting of the highest quality that can be attributed to the workshop of the painter Scipione Pulzone, known as “il Gaetano,” and it exemplifies the genre of portraiture in which the master excelled. This attribution is supported by comparisons with the numerous portraits Pulzone painted for the Medici family.
Our painting, in particular, may represent one of the versions that the workshop replicated at the request of numerous art-collecting patrons eager to own a portrait of one of the most influential figures on the Florentine scene.
The figures depicted by Pulzone were icons of incomparable elegance: noblewomen, knights, and clergymen lent their likenesses to the artist’s eye, which, through his superb technique, captured every minute detail. A photographic richness and a surprising attention to texture that echo the Flemish-inspired pictorial prototypes, particularly those of Antonis Mor (Utrecht 1520 – Antwerp 1578), who also worked in Rome and who would earn Pulzone the nickname “Van Dyck of the Roman school.”
His portraits highlight the characteristic signs of the exercise of power, both in the clothing and regalia and in the facial expressions and poses. The aristocrats appear to us as figures fully aware of their social status, and although their stillness and solemnity may at first glance seem cold or impersonal, they exude the subtle charm of a “timeless” art.
First documented in Rome in 1562, Pulzone soon came into contact with the most important aristocratic families of the second half of the sixteenth century, becoming the official portraitist of the city’s nobility and ecclesiastical leadership. The first to recognize his talent as a portraitist was Marcantonio II Colonna, victor of the Battle of Lepanto against the Turks (1571). It was he who opened the doors for Pulzone to the great Roman families, followed by commissions from the Medici in Florence.
The earliest works, in chronological order, are characterized by an optical and lenticular exploration, by a lucid focus on details, applied to both faces and garments through a glassy painterly texture. There is no doubt that Gaetano’s technical skill—which in some cases reaches the level of mimetic excellence—contributed to his fame. The closer one gets to his final years, the more this characteristic loses its prominence; not only in his portraits does he shift toward a realism of more immediate human contact, to which this portrait seems to adhere.
In exceptionally good condition, this painting is complete with a beautiful ebonized “wave-pattern” frame in the Flemish style.
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7 900 €
Period: 16th century
Style: Renaissance, Louis 13th
Condition: Excellent condition
Material: Oil painting
Width: encadré 87 cm.
Height: encadré 103 cm.
Reference (ID): 1802690
Availability: In stock
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