Pittore toscano XVI secolo

Tuscan painter active towards the end of the 16th century. Portrait of Captain Niccolò Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 – Lonigo, 1510), Count of Pitigliano and Nola. Tuscany, late 16th century Oil on canvas, 64 x 47 cm, framed 89 x 73 cm. Short video of the work: https://youtu.be/KrTxWGYWj6c Full details of this painting: https://www.antichitacastelbarco.it/it/prodotto/ritratto-di-niccolo-orsini--conte-di-pitigliano- The portrait we present shows the effigy of a vigorous male figure of high rank in armor, in the most typical Renaissance pose, half-length and captured in profile, with his face and gaze turned to the side; the serious and intense expression and the features of the face evoke at first glance the portraiture of early Florentine Mannerism. This is Niccolò III Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 – Lonigo, 1510), Count of Pitigliano and Nola, and son of Aldobrandino Orsini, a famous condottiero and captain of fortune who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries, who served for the Papal States in Naples and Florence and especially for the Republic of Venice. Portraiture with these characteristics, 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. In fact, the profile portrait was a genre reserved, according to the Renaissance tradition, for celebrations, presenting those characteristics of imperturbability typical of the military role held. Our painting is a work created by an author active in Tuscany towards the end of the sixteenth century, adhering to those pictorial stylistic features made famous by the portrait painter 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 'Serie Gioviana' (now at 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 from the collection of prints by Aliprando Caprioli, ''Portraits of One 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 a descriptive sheet (FIMA Italia). We take care of and organize the transport of 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 One Hundred Illustrious Captains” (Rome, 1596) Follow us on: https://www.instagram.com/galleriacastelbarco/?hl=it https://www.facebook.com/galleriacastelbarco/