Callisto Piazza, 'Portrait of a Man', about 1528
About the work
Overview
This portrait may depict Ghirardo Averoldi, a nobleman from Brescia in northern Italy. He regards us with a frown, and the solid triangular form of his body, swathed in his black silk and velvet costume, makes him appear stern and powerful. The large collar of the coat and the shape of the sleeves and cap suggest that it was painted about 1528–9.
An inscription formerly on the back read ‘Ettore Averoldi Brescia 1865’, probably meaning that it once belonged to or was bought from Ettore Averoldi in that year. Averoldi also sold an altarpiece by Romanino to the National Gallery in 1865.
For many years this was believed to be the portrait of Ghirardo Averoldi by Romanino referred to in a guidebook to Brescia published in 1853. However, it is more likely that it is by Callisto Piazza, a follower of Romanino.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Portrait of a Man
- Artist
- Callisto Piazza
- Artist dates
- about 1500 - 1561/2
- Date made
- about 1528
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 76 × 58.7 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by the Misses Cohen as part of the John Samuel collection, 1906
- Inventory number
- NG2096
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Nicholas Penny, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 1, ‘Paintings from Bergamo, Brescia and Cremona’, London 2004; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1826P. Brognoli, Nuova guida per la città di Brescia, Brescia 1826
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1893H.A. Grueber and I. Spielmann, Exhibition of Early Italian Art from 1300 to 1550, (exh. cat. New Gallery, 1893-94), London 1893
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1895Catalogue of Pictures by Italian Masters of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Collected by John Samuel, London 1895
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1901A. Venturi, Storia dell'arte italiana, 11 vols, Milan 1901
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1907M.H. Spielmann, 'The Samuel Bequest to the National Gallery', The Connoisseur, XVIII, 1907, pp. 35-40
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1907London, National Gallery Archive, NG17/6: Annual Report of the Trustees of the National Gallery for the Year 1906, 1907
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1913National Gallery, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the British and Foreign Pictures, 81st edn, London 1913
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1925G. Nicodemi, Gerolamo Romanino, Brescia 1925
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1961M.L. Ferrari, Il Romanino, Milan 1961
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1962Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
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1962F. Heinemann, Giovanni Bellini e i Belliniani, 3 vols, Venice 1962
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1975C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
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1979A. Braham, The National Gallery Lends: Italian Renaissance Portraits (exh. cat. York City Art Gallery, 3 March - 16 April 1979; Nottingham Castle Museum, 21 April - 3 June 1979), York 1979
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1987Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2004
Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 1, Paintings from Bergamo, Brescia and Cremona, London 2004
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.