Marchigian School, circa 1585

Palazzo Grassi, Venice (inv. no. B219 and, after 1986, inv. no. 1986B228);
From which sold, Milan, Christie's, 7 June 2006, lot 89 (as 'Attributed to Orlando Flacco, Portrait of a gentleman').

The canvas has a sympathetic lining which is stable. The painting is in good overall condition and the paint surface quite well preserved. There is a vertical seam running just left of centre along which there is some old resotration. There is a restored damage just to the left of the seam parallel with the clock on the table, a further restored damage on the floor lower right, and a restored horizontal tear running through the hat. The shadowed part of the silver drape over the table has been partly strengthened. Elsewhere any intereference is only minor in nature. Solf with its elaborate carved and gilt wood frame, in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The sitter is Francesco Maria II Della Rovere, sixth and last Duke of Urbino. He was born in Pesaro on 20 February 1549, the son of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino and Conte di Montefeltro, and Vittoria Farnese, Principessa di Parma. Between 1565 and 1568 Francesco Maria was raised at the royal court of Philip II of Spain. He succeeded his father as Duke of Urbino at the latter's death in 1574. In 1570 Francesco Maria married Lucrezia d'Este but they remained childless at her death. In 1599 he married a second time – Lucrezia's cousin Livia della Rovere – and on 16 May 1605 they had their first and only child Federico Ubaldo. Unfortunately Federico died of epilepsy in 1623, when he was merely seventeen, and left only a daughter - Vittoria della Rovere (see lot 141). Francesco Maria took up the title of Duke again but, without hope of a male heir, the Duchy came to an end and he gave it back to Pope Urban VIII in 1625. After his death six years later Francesco Maria's art collection passed to his niece Vittoria, who married Ferdinando II de' Medici, and much of it is now in the Uffizi, Florence.

Francesco Maria's physiognomy is well known for he was portrayed on numerous occasions, both in painted and sculpted form. Federico Barocci painted a three-quarter-length portrait of him in armour as well as a miniature, both of which are today in the Uffizi.¹  A marble bust of the Duke by Giovanni Bandini and Giovan Battista Foggini is in the villa di Poggio Imperiale in Florence.²  The present work shows the Duke wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece which he received from Philip II of Spain in 1585, thus providing a terminus post quem for the dating of the portrait. Although unidentified, the author of this painting must have been a close follower of Federico Barocci, to whom the portrait was once attributed (according to the inscription on the original frame). The portrait's composition is recorded in an inventory of 1624 listing the property in the Palazzo Ducale in Pesaro where a miniature is described as showing the Duke standing, his Spanish sword at his side, resting a hand on two books next to which stands a drum-shaped clock.³  The very precise description corresponds closely with a drawing executed in Barocci's circle, today in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan (Fig. 1).⁴  The Duke is not wearing the Golden Fleece and is considerably younger in appearance but there is clearly a connection between these works. The setting here is unusual, and differs from the representation of the interior of the ducal palace at Urbino in the drawing: here sheets of material hang from wooden slats, decorated with acorns and oak leaves; symbols of the Della Rovere family. The clock resting on the table beside the Duke is also distinctive and corresponds with one listed in a 1631 inventory of Francesco Maria II's possessions: "Horologgio uno da tavola d'ottone dorato, fatto a forma di tamburo, con li fondi, doi cerchietti e corde d'argento, che sona hore, quarti e risveglia...".⁵

A reduced replica of this portrait, showing the Duke three-quarter-length, is in the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro, where it is attributed to Giorgio Picchi (c.1555-1605) and dated to circa 1585.⁶

The portrait's elaborate late 16th-century carved and gilt wood frame is marchigian and almost certainly original. Its symbols refer to the Della Rovere family and the presence of heraldic eagles alludes to the Montefeltro descent of the Duchy of Urbino.

Much of the above information is taken from detailed studies by both Dott. Alessandro Marchi and Prof. Massimo Moretti, copies of which are available to the purchaser on request.

 

1.  Inv. no. 1438; A. Emiliani, Federico Barocci, Bologna 1985, pp. 87-88, and inv. no. 1890 n.4019 respectively. Another painting by an anonymous marchigian painter, showing the Duke at fifty, is in the Museo Civico at Urbania (se A. Marchi, in Gli ultimi Della Rovere. Il crepuscolo del Ducato d'Urbino, exhibition catalogue, Urbino 2000, pp. 33-34).
2.  See E.D. Schmidt, "Giovanni Bandini tra Marche e Toscana", in Nuovi Studi, year III, 1998, no. 6, pp. 57-103, especially pp. 58-61, figs. 72-74. Other sculpture includes a gilded terracotta relief in the Museo Diocesano Albani of Urbino.
3.  "Quadretto uno di miniatura col retratto del signor Duca regnante in piedi che tiene la mano sopra due libri in un tavolino vicino a un orologio fatto a tamburo con cornici d'ebano, et retratto dalla spada d'oro che portò di Spagna, con un anello et taccaglia a foglia d'argento dorato" (F. Sangiorgi ed., Documenti Urbinati. Inventari del Palazzo Ducale (1582-1631), Accademia Raffaello – Urbino. Collana di studi e testi, no. 4, Urbino 1976, p. 350).
4.  Cod. F. 265, inf. n. 9, 280 by 220 mm..
5.  See T. Biganti, L'eredità dei Della Rovere. Inventari dei beni di Casteldurante (1631), Urbino 2005, p. 346.
6.  127 by 95 cm.. See M. Moretti, "Giorgio Picchi da Casteldurante", in Nel segno di Barocci. Allievi e seguaci tra Marche, Umbria, Siena, ed. A.M. Ambrosini Massari & M. Cellini, Milan 2005, pp. 198-219, especially pp. 202, 215 and 219.