A ‘Male Portrait' by Girolamo da Carpi from Palazzo Spreti in Ravenna

After a meticulous restoration, the 'Portrait of a Gentleman' from a private collection, forming part of a genealogical series representing the Spreti family from Ravenna, has been returned to a condition that goes beyond all expectations. Who is the man portrayed? A study of the family palazzo – designed by Francesco Fontana, son of Carlo, in the early 18th century – would suggest an identity other than that indicated by the clearly visible inscription added to the work in more recent times. A close examination of the sources and modern historiography would in fact reveal that the painting is not the portrait of Arardo IV Spreti, executed by Obizzo da Polenta in 1390, whose likeness had perhaps been lost, and who the ancestors had wanted to celebrate, but is more probably that of a member of the family living in the 16th century, possibly Camillo I Spreti (1500-1543). The painting's provenance from the Po valley area, and a careful study of other exponents of the artistic scene in northern Italy, has suggested that its author may be Girolamo da Carpi, a Ferrarese painter active in Bologna during the years of Charles V's sojourn in the papal city noted by Vasari precisely for his skills as a portraitist.

Index

Francesco Aceto Church area and altarpieces by "primitives" in San Lorenzo Maggiore in Naples: from the "Saint Louis" by Simone Martini to the "Saint Jerome" by Colantonio. II
read abstract » pp. 2-61
Gianluca Amato The wooden 'Crucifixes' of Giuliano, Antonio and Francesco da Sangallo
read abstract » pp. 62-123
Fernando Gilotta A new krater by the Fould Painter
read abstract » pp. 124-125
Jacometto Veneziano and the humanists. A proposal for the 'Portrait of Luca Pacioli and Guidubaldo da Montefeltro' of the Museo di Capodimonte
read abstract » pp. 126-149
'Portraits' for Jacometto Veneziano, Marco Basaiti and Andrea Previtali
read abstract » pp. 150-158
Leonardo da Vinci in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan: a citation from Luca Pacioli for the “Sala delle Asse”, or “room of the mulberry trees”
read abstract » pp. 159-166
Alessandra Pattanaro A 'Male Portrait' by Girolamo da Carpi from Palazzo Spreti in Ravenna
read abstract » pp. 167-172
Stefano L'Occaso Lattanzio Gambara at Maguzzano
read abstract » pp. 173-177
Elena Rame A drawing by Lattanzio Gambara for the 'Martyrdom of Saint Stephen' at Vimercate
read abstract » pp. 178-179
Gennaro De Luca A new interpretation of the “gentil huomo famoso pittore” Giovanni Maria Morandi
read abstract » pp. 180-191
Fabio Sottili The 'Portrait of Count de Bonneval' by Violante Siries and the turqueries of the Sansedoni family
read abstract » 192-197