(Bologna 1512–1597)
Portrait of a elderly gentleman in a fur-trimmed coat,
oil on canvas, 113 x 97 cm, framed

Provenance:
European Private Collection

Literature:
V. Fortunati, Per la storia del ritratto a Bologna nel Cinquecento: aggiunte a Prospero Fontana e a Bartolomeo Passerotti, in: Arti a confronto. Studi in onore di Anna Maria Matteucci, Bologna 2004, p. 148, fig. 106

In Prospero Fontana’s long and multifaceted career, portraiture seems to have constituted a large portion of the artist’s oeuvre, as Lanzi points out: “[…] his greatest acclaim arose from his art of making portraits, which in picture galleries are still honoured more than his other compositions are in churches” (Luigi Lanzi, Storia pittorica dell’Italia [1789], V, Florence, 1834, p. 49).

During the years in which Vasari´s Mannerist influence became predominant in Bologna, Prospero Fontana found a form of artistic independence in portraiture. It was at this time that he distanced himself from official commissions working for private clients.

Bologna’s aristocracy and upper classes wanted the artist to immortalise them in the dignity of their social roles, making only moderate use of the exalting and celebratory tones of court costume. In this context, a portrait becomes a precise record, one that is both intimate and public at the same time, to be included in the history of a family’s life. In the light of all this, Fontana’s style of portrait-painting would be adapted without difficulty to the rigours of the Catholic reform resulting from the council of Trent and supported by Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti. Vera Fortunati attributes considerable importance to this Portrait of an elderly gentleman in the history of portraiture of the early Counterreformation period in Bologna, dating it with all probability to the end of the 1570s, at around the time that Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti’s Discorso intorno alle imagine sacre et profane (1582) was about to be published (see literature).

In the present painting, the adherence to “authenticity” in portraiture as prescribed by the Bolognese Cardinal Paleotti has been realised with refined stylistic touches. The sitter expresses the intention of representing a role conforming to his social condition in an image that succeeds in combining a look that is both impressive and natural. The realism suggesting an awareness of north European and Flemish models is also accompanied by a penetrating psychological study.

A measured equilibrium pervades the layout of the interior: The wavy folds of a green curtain stand out against the brown wall, while on the left, a perspective view of the Holbein carpet lies on the table, on which stand a pen and inkstand. The elderly and as yet mysterious gentleman expresses a thoughtful wisdom in his firm gaze, his mouth outlined by a long moustache and flowing beard. Unfortunately, the letter the sitter holds in his hand is illegible and is therefore of no use in helping to identify him. The use of light brings particular features to the fore: the fur of the cloak, the folds of the green curtain, the hands depicted “from life”. These were optical effects that would be noticed by the young Carracci.

This painting offers a splendid example of the high quality of portrait painting between the 1560s and 1570s in Bologna, where Prospero Fontana played a leading role.