Possibly by Bernardino Loschi, 'A Young Man with the 'Aeneid' (Alberto III Pio?)', 1512
About the work
Overview
The sitter’s doublet is inscribed on the neckline: ALBERTVS. PIVS CARP [...] + MDXII (‘Alberto Pio from Carpi 1512’). Alberto Pio was recognised as the legitimate ruler of Carpi, near the Italian town of Modena, in 1512 – but by then he was 37, older than he appears here. The knotted decorations on his clothing have a heraldic character and are associated with the Savoia family, with which the Pio family were connected.
The lines in the open book are a famous passage of Book VI of Virgil’s Aeneid: the dead Anchises explains the transmigration of souls – in which a soul passes from one body to another after death – to his son, Aeneas, who has visited him in the underworld. The scene in the background showing the twin peaks of the sacred mountain Parnassus is probably related to the text, although it is not clear how.
Alberto Pio was ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. The coat in the painting may be an ambassadorial gown, perhaps one of German style.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Young Man with the 'Aeneid' (Alberto III Pio?)
- Artist
- Possibly by Bernardino Loschi
- Artist dates
- about 1460 - 1540
- Date made
- 1512
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 58.4 × 49.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Mond Bequest, 1924
- Inventory number
- NG3940
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Giorgia Mancini and Nicholas Penny, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 3, ‘Bologna and Ferrara’, London 2016; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1898A. Venturi, 'Footnote to Review Article by G. Frizzoni', Archivio storico dell'arte, 1898
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1904G. Frizzoni, 'L'Esposizione d'arte senese al Burlington Fine Arts Club', L'arte, VII, 1904
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1905R. Burckhardt, Cima da Conegliano: Ein venezianischer Maler des Übergangs vom Quattrocento zum Cinquecento, Leipzig 1905
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1910J.P. Richter, The Mond Collection: An Appreciation, London 1910
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1912C.J. Ffoulkes, 'Il catalogo mond', L'arte, XV, 1912, pp. 263-80
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1925National Gallery, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square: Catalogue, London 1925
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1931A. Hevesy, 'Um Bartolomeo Veneto', Pantheon, 1931, pp. 232-3
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1956R. Longhi, Ampliamento nell'Officina ferrarese, Florence 1956
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1962Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
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1969E. Wind, Giorgione's Tempesta, with Comments on Giorgione's Poetic Allegories, Oxford 1969
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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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1977E. Schröter, Die Ikonographie des Themas Parnass vor Raffael. Die Schrift - und Bildtraditionen von der Spätantike bis zum 15 Jahrhundert, Hildesheim 1977
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1978P. Humfrey, 'Cima da Conegliano and Alberto Pio', Paragone, 341, 1978, pp. 86-97
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1983P. Humfrey, Cima da Conegliano, Cambridge 1983
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1985M. Pirondini, La pittura del Cinquecento a Reggio Emilia, Milan 1985
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1987Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
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1990A. Dülberg, Privatporträts: Geschichte und Ikonologie einer Gattung im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert., Berlin 1990
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1990M. Leporati, Bernardino Loschi e Giovanni del Sega a Carpi: La pittura rinascimentale alla corte di Alberto III Pio, Thesis, Università di Bologna 1990
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1994A. Garuti, 'Il Palazzo di Carpi e gli artisti della Corte', in J. Bentini, Quadri Rinomatissimi: Il collezionismo dei Pio di Savoia, Modena 1994, pp. 25-51
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1995V.F. Pietrantonio, La pittura in Emilia e in Romagna. Tomo primo: Il Cinquecento, Milan 1995
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1995M. Scolaro, 'Verso la maniera moderna: L'incoronazione di Carlo V a Bologna e la genesi del ritratto di corte', in La Pittura in Emilia e in Romagna, I: Il Cinquecento, Milan 1995
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2004M. Rossi (ed.), Alberto III e Rodolfo Pio da Carpi: Collezionisti e mecenati: Atti del seminario internazionale di studi, Carpi, 22 e 23 novembre 2002, Carpi 2004
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2005S. Minarelli, 'La melanconia del principe. Note sul ritratto di Alberto III Pio della National Gallery', Atti e memorie: Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Antiche Provincie Modenesi, XI/27, 2005, pp. 295-320
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2007N. Macola, Sguardi e scritture. Figure con libro nella ritrattistica italiana della prima metà del Cinquecento, Venice 2007
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2008M. Rossi (ed.), L'immagine del principe. I ritratti di Alberto III nel Palazzo dei Pio a Carpi (exh. cat. Palazzo dei Pio, 15 March - 15 June 2008), Carpi 2008
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2016Mancini, Giorgia, and Nicholas Penny, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 3, Bologna and Ferrara, London 2016
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.