Physical description
Profile bust of a bearded man wearing a black hat and facing left, set against a marble niche with a garland above his head.
Place of Origin
Mantua, Italy (painted)
Date
1477-1491 (painted)
Artist/maker
unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
tempera on spruce panel
Dimensions
Height: 47.7 cm estimate, Width: 46 cm estimate, Depth: 3.5 cm
Object history note
Provenance: San Martino di Gusnaga; 1881-82 Henry Willet of Brighton (set of 35); 25 of them (but not those in the V&A nor that belongong to Sir martin Conway) sold Christies, 10 Apr. 1905, lots 97-105. Willet lent the six to the V&A some years before they were bought in 1904.
Kauffmann, 1973, p177.
Historical significance: According to Federico Zeri (1986), these 6 panels are part of a large series, of which 21 others can be traced: 12 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (nos. 05.2.1-12); two in The Cornell Fine Arts Centre, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida (nos. 57-5-P and 57-6-P); two belonging to Francesco Zeri, Mentana; and five belonging to Vittorio Frascione, Florence. Twelve additional panels, whereabouts unknown, were in the following collections: two in the collection of W.B. Chamberlin (Christie's, London, 25th Feb. 1938, lot 41) and four in the Henry Harris collection (Sotheby's, London, 20 Aug. 1941, nos. 92); three in the Payne Whitney collection (Parke-Bernet, New York, 6-7 Feb. 1946, no. 258), one in the collection of Lord Conway of Allington (Sotheby's, London, 31st Jan. 1951, lot 23); and two in the Engel-Gros collection (Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 30th May-1st Jun 1921, lot 4, bought in; Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 6 Dec. 1952, lot 2).
Each panel shows a bust figure in profile set against a marble niche with a garland above their head. The series was removed from a small room in the palace of San Martino Gusnago, situated between Mantua and Brescia, subsequently the property of the Gonzaga family and Francesco Secco (1423-1496) whose arms (the arms of the Aragon conceded to Secco by Ferdinand of Naples in 1477) appears indeed in the pictorial decoration.
The panels decorated a beam and were probably divided into four groups of eleven panels, with a figure in three-quarter view in the centre of each group, flanked symmetrically by profiles and possibly grouped by pairs. All V&A panels show a male bust profiles but the original series include female bust profiles such as the ones in the Metropolitan Museum collection.
According to W. Terni de Gregory, this kind of ceiling decoration was far from rare and profile figures dressed with all sorts of outfits and headgears were in fact the most favoured by the noble class. As a matter of fact, each of these six panels displays a different and extravagant outfit such as a hat with a turban underneath, a classical helmet etc.
One of these ceiling decorations is still in situ in the Banca Popolare of Crema and was executed ca. 1500 to celebrate the wedding of Ottaviani Vimercati and Domicilla Lupi of Bergamo.
These series of portraits may either have constituted the genealogy of the family living in the palace with at the centre the couple recently married and the arms of the families or an ideal genealogy which displays illustrious men particularly admired and regarded as great examples to follow for a learned citizen. In this case, Virgil, Julius Cesar and Alexander the Great can be portrayed side by side and included among the family members.
Some of the panels are closed to Bramantino, especially for the deep perspective of the niche in the background and Boltraffio's manner, to whom they have been attributed in the past. According to Zeri, the most plausible attribution is to Floriano Ferramola, of whose work an example is featured in the Museum's collection, see 8878-1861. However these panels display a highest quality and cannot be therefore attributed with certainty to any of leading artists of the time. The Metropolitan Museum formerly attributed his series to a follower of Bramantino but called it now 'Lombard school'.
Historical context note
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy, artists were often commissioned to create painted wooden furnishings for the domestic interior, especially for the camera (bedchamber) of wealthy private palaces. Such works were generally commissioned to celebrate a new marriage or the birth of a child and could include a lettiera (bed), spalliera or cornicioni (a painted frieze), a cassapanca (bench-chest) and a set of cassone (marriage chests) among other objects and furnishings. The decoration often included subjects associated with fertility, maternity, childbirth, marriage and fidelity and could include references to the patrons through inclusion of their coat of arms and heraldic colours, or of their personal motto or device.
Descriptive line
Tempera on spruce, Male profile Bust, Lombard school, 1477-1491
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Church, A.H in Portfolio , xv, 1884, p.35ff., repr.
Koop, A.J in Burlingtom Magazine., viii, 1905, p. 135f., repr.
Cook, H.F, Burlington Magazine ., pp. 136, 141.
Metropolitan Museum Bulletin , I, 1905, p. 14, repr.
Konody, P.G in Paris Herald Tribune , 28th August, 1905.
Suida, W in Jahrbuch der Kuntsthist Samml .,xxv, Vienna, 1905, p. 67f.
Brinton, S Leonardo at Milan , 2nd ed.,1907, p. 56.
Pope-Hennessy, J., in Burlington Magazine ., 1xxvi, 1940, p. 31.
Metropolitan Museum, Wehle, H.B., A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish and Byzantine paintings ,, 1940, p. 150 f.
Suida, W., Bramante pittore e il Bramantino , 1953, p.145 f., figs.235-40.
Terni di Gregory, W., Pittura artigiana lombarda del Rinascimento , 1958, p.71, fig.44, pl.xxii.
Marani, E and Perina, C., Le arti, Montova , ii, 1961, pp.80, 342.
Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 177-9, cat. no. 219.
The following is the full text of the entry:
School of MANTUA, ca. 1480
219
SIX MALE PROFILE BUSTS
Tempera on spruce
Average size 18 x 17 ½ (46 x 44.5)
663/68-1904
These heads, representing illustrious men, originally formed part of a frieze below a ceiling in the castle of San Martino di Gusnaga. Twelve others from the same frieze are in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, four were in the Henry Harris Collection (Sotheby's, 20 Aug. 1941, lot 92, bought Wengraf), two in the Engel-Gros Collection (sold Petit, Paris, 30 May-1 June 1921, lot 4, repr.; Gal. Charpentier, Paris, 6 Dec. 1952, lot 2, repr.) and another belonged to Sir Martin Conway(Christie's, 31 Jan. 1951, lot 23, bought Agnew; 1952, private collection).
The panels have had various attributions (see Lit.), including those to Bramantino (H. F. Cook) and to Ferramola of Brescia (J. Pope-Hennessy) but, as will be seen, these can no longer be sustained.
San Martino di Gusnaga is near Ceresara, which is exactly half-way between Brescia and Mantua, but well within the boundary of the Province of Mantua. It belonged to the Gonzaga but passed into the hands of the condottiere Francesco Secco (1423-96) at the time of his marriage to Caterina Gonzaga in 1451. The palace was built by Luca Fancelli ca. 1460, but the pictorial decoration is after 1477, for it incorporates the arms of Aragon, which were conceded to Secco by Ferdinand of Naples in that year. There is contemporary evidence for the magnificence of the decoration and the contents of the Palace (see F. Secco D'Aragona, 1957) but in 1491 Secco's quarrel with Francesco Gonzaga forced him to abandon it to the sack of mercenaries from the Marches. Much of his magnificent collection was totally destroyed. The Mantegnesque garland decoration of San Martino has therefore been dated 1477-91, and it seems most likely that the profiles may be placed in the same period.
This accords well with their style. It is clearly impossible to attribute them to any leading artist; the connection with Bramantino now seems very remote and the attribution to Ferramola (c. 1480-1528) does not fit with the date ca. 1477-91 indicated by the internal evidence. A fairly close comparison can be made with the profile heads in the Parmiggiani collection at Reggio Emilia (Terni di Gregory, 1958, fig. 42). The Mantegnesque setting and the fact that we are dealing with a Gonzaga palace support an attribution to the Mantuan school.
Prov. San Martino di Gusnaga; 1881-82 Henry Willett of Brighton (set of 35); 25 of them (but not those in the Museum nor that belonging to Sir Martin Conway) sold Christie's, 10 Apr. 1905, lots 97-105. Willett lent the six to the Museum some years before they were bought in 1904.
Exh. Old Masters, R. A., 1844 (among nos. 240-46, 248-50, 235-55); ibid., 1885 (among nos. 236-41, 245-50); B. F. A. C., Milanese School, 1898 (Bramantino pp. xiv f.; nos. 9-14).
Lit. A. H. Church in Portfolio, xv, 1884, p. 35 ff., repr. (Master of San Martino); A. J. Koop in Burl. Mag., viii, 1905, p. 135 f., repr.; H. F. Cook, ibid., pp. 136, 141; Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, i, 1905, p. 14, repr.; P. G. Konody in Paris Herald Tribune, 28 August, 1905; W. Suida in Jahrbuch der Kunsthist. Samml., xxv, Vienna, 1905, p. 67 f. (more probably Veronese than Lombard); S. Brinton, Leonardo at Milan, 2nd ed., 1907, p. 56; J. Pope-Hennessy in Burl. Mag., lxxvi, 1940, p. 31 (Ferramola); Metropolitan Museum, H. B. Wehle, A catalogue of Italian, Spanish and Byzantine paintings, 1940, p. 150 f. (follower of Bramantino ; with discussion of earlier lit.) ; W. Suida, Bramante pittore e il Bramantino, 1953, p. 145 f., figs. 235-40 (Lombard-Mantuan school); W. Terni di Gregory, Pittura artigiana lombarda del Rinascimento,1958, p. 71, fig. 44 & pl. xxiii (attributed to Ferramola); E. Marani and C. Perina, Le arti, Mantova, ii, 1961, pp. 80, 342 (Anonymous, 15th cent.), On Secco and San Martino see: F. Secco D'Aragona in Archivio Storico Lombardo, lxxxiii, 1957, pp. 210-61.
David Chambers and Jane Martineau, eds., Splendours of the Gonzaga, exh. cat., Victoria and Albert Museum, 1981, p. 128, no. 39.
Federico Zeri, Italian Paintings: a Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. North Italian School, New York, 1986, pp. 72-75, plates 59-61.
The V&A's profile heads form part of a much larger series (according to A. H. Church, forty-four panels), of which twelve now belong to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum had originally attributed them to a follower of Bramantino but now gives them to an unknown Lombard painter of the first quarter of the sixteenth century.
Exhibition History
Splendours of the Gonzaga (Victoria and Albert Museum 04/11/1981-31/01/1982)
Milanese (Burlington Fine Arts Club 01/01/1898-31/12/1898)
Old Masters (Royal Academy of Arts 01/01/1885-31/12/1885)
Old Masters (Royal Academy of Arts 01/01/1844-31/12/1844)
Materials
Tempera; Spruce
Techniques
Painting
Subjects depicted
Man; Male
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
