Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Italian (Florentine) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1500 - 1599
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
200 x 150 mm
Place of origin
Florence
Order this imageCollection
Blickling Hall, Norfolk
NT 355512
Caption
This portrait of the Italian poet was bought by the 3rd Earl of Lothian in 1649, along with a portrait of King Louis XI of France (also still at Blickling). Both pictures were ascribed to Corneille de Lyon, but it seems that they were not even made in the same country, and are certainly not a pair. This picture was probably produced in Florence, in the mid-sixteenth century, by a follower of Bronzino. The ‘Louis XI’ is a cruder work, and was possibly created as a pendant to the ‘Petrarch’. Moreover, this picture was painted on poplar, and the ‘Louis XI’ is on an oak panel.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) (1304-1374), Italian (Florentine) School. 16th century. A head-and-shoulders imaginary portrait of the Florentine poet, full face, wearing a white robe with fur-lined leather collar, pink head covering with wreath of leaves. Label on back of panel 'National Gallery of Scotland, Loan - Newbattle R.N.' Label on back of frame and panel 'Lord Lothian No.5'.
Provenance
Acquired by the 3rd Earl of Lothian in 1649; bequeathed with the hall and contents by Philip,11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940)
Credit line
Blickling Hall, The Lothian Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Italian (Florentine) School, artist previously catalogued as attributed to French School, artist