Description

Title: Painting Portrait Ludovico di Giovanni de' Medici Follower Carlo Portelli

Description: Painting Portrait Ludovico di Giovanni de' Medici Follower Carlo Portelli

1 Historic Italian Painting Portrait Ludovico de' Medici also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere In Armour Follower Carlo Portelli.

Title "Portrait of Ludovico de" Medici, known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere 1498-1526".
medium watercolour

Bring home a true piece of historical Italian history with this stunning antique painting of legendary figure of the Rennaissance era. Executed in the refined, formal style reminiscent of Carlo Portelli this piece radiates elegance and Renaissance detail perfect for collectors of fine art, period decor, or Italian noble family heritage.

Subject portrait of Ludovico de' Medici also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere in half length side view looking towards the left. He is depicted wearing his fine military battle shiny armour. He is holding his helmet in his hand, has such a strong visual presence with his gaze, having such meticulous brushwork.

Inscribed verso.

Painted in the style of the old masters Rennaissance portraiture, follower of Carlo Portelli.

Unsigned, Italian school artist.

Circa 19th century.

Medium watercolour and set in an original fine Fiorentine carved giltwood frame, with a front protective glass cover, which enhances this painting even further.

Frame display size is 23 cm wide and 24.5 cm high.

With hanging thread on the back ready for immediate home display.

Biography of Ludovico de' Medici, also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere (6 April 1498 - 30 November 1526) was an Italian condottiero. He is known for leading the Black Bands and serving valiantly in military combat under his third cousins, Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII, in the War of Urbino and the War of the League of Cognac, respectively. Giovanni was born in the Northern Italian town of Forlì to Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano and Caterina Sforza, one of the most famous women of the Italian Renaissance.

From an early age, he demonstrated great interest and ability in physical activity, especially the martial arts of the age, such as horse riding and sword fighting. He committed his first murder at the age of 12 and was twice banished from the city of Florence for his unruly behaviour. He had a son, Cosimo (1519-1574), who went on to become the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Giovanni became a condottiero, or mercenary military captain, in the employ of Pope Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici) and on 5 March 1516 led the war against Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. He thenceforth formed a company of his own, mounted on light horses and specializing in fast but devastating skirmishing tactics and ambushes. In 1520 he defeated several rebel barons in the Marche. The following year Leo X allied with Emperor Charles V against King Francis I of France to regain Milan, Parma and Piacenza; Giovanni was called in under the command of Prospero Colonna, defeating the French at Vaprio d'Adda in November. His spouse was Maria Salviati

As a symbol of mourning for the death of Pope Leo X (1 December 1521), Giovanni added black stripes to his insignia, whence comes his nickname, Giovanni delle Bande Nere (or Giovanni of the Black Bands). In August 1523 he was hired by the Imperial army, and in January 1524 he defeated the French and the Swiss at Caprino Bergamasco. In the same year another Medici, Giulio di Giuliano, became Pope and took the name of Clement VII. The new Pope paid all of Giovanni's debt, but in exchange ordered him to switch to the French side of the ongoing conflict. He did not take part in the battle of Pavia, but was soon severely wounded in a skirmish and later had to move to Venice to recuperate from his wounds.

In 1526, the War of the League of Cognac broke out. The League's captain general, Francesco Maria I della Rovere, abandoned Milan in the face of the overwhelming superiority of the Imperial army led by Georg von Frundsberg. Giovanni was able to defeat the Landsknechts rearguard, at the confluence of the Mincio with the Po River. On the evening of 25 November he was hit by a shot from a falconet in a battle near Governolo. According to a contemporary account by Luigi Guicciardini, the ball shattered his right leg above the knee and he had to be carried to San Nicolò Po, near Bagnolo San Vito, where no doctor could be found. He was taken to Aloisio Gonzaga's palace, marquis of Castel Goffredo, in Mantua, where the surgeon Abramo, who had cared for him two years earlier, amputated his leg. To perform the operation Abramo asked for 10 men to hold down the stricken condottiero.

Giovanni's premature death metaphorically signalled the end of the age of the condottieri, as their mode of fighting (which emphasized armoured knights on horseback) was rendered practically obsolete by the introduction of pike-armed infantry. He is therefore known as the last of the great Italian condottieri.

Biography of artist Carlo Portelli (died 1574) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Florence. He is also called Porteolli or Carlo di Galeotto Partelli da Loro. Born in Loro in the Valdarno, he was a pupil of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio. The artist Vasari took note of his abilities. Portelli painted several altarpieces for churches of Florence, including for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. He died sometime before October 15, 1574, the date of his burial in San Pancrazio. Carlo's talent was inherited from his mother, Veronica Portelli, an extremely talented yet relatively unknown artist of the 15th century. His works fetch up to $163,892 US Dollars.

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Condition report.

Offered in fine used condition.

The front painting surface is in good overall order, having foxing staining and minor paint loss towards the edge commensurate with usage and old age. The frame has general signs of wear, scuffs, scratches, some losses in places commensurate with usage and age.

Dimensions in centimetres of the frame

High (24.5 cm)
Width (23 cm)
Length depth thickness of frame (2.5 cm)

Reserve: $8,400.00

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Condition

Used

Buyer's Premium

20%