Francesco SALVIATI, also known as Cecchino (Florence, 1510 – Rome, 1563)

Provenance:
• Constance Flower (1843-1931), born de Rothschild, Baroness of Battersea, London
• Her posthumous sale, Christie’s, London, March 15, 1935, lot 48 (as Sebastiano del Piombo)
• D. Katz Gallery, Dieren, around 1936
• Gimbels Gallery, New York, 1945 (as Francesco Salviati)
• Collection of M...X... and various collectors, Me Rheims; Galerie Charpentier, Paris, June 1, 1951, lot 17, attributed to Francesco Salviati
• Acquired by Julius H. Weitzner, New York City, 1957
• Asbjørn Lunde (1927-2017), Staten Island, NY
• His posthumous sale, France, private collection
Bibliography:
• Art News, January 1, 1945 (reproduced as Francesco Salviati)
• Den Ville Natur: Sveitsisk og Norsk romantikk, cat. exp., Tromsø, 2007, (reproduced p. 11, ill. 2)
• Catherine Monbeig Goguel, Francesco Salviati (1510-1563) ou la Bella Maniera, [cat. exp.], Rome, Villa Médicis / Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1998, Milan, Paris, 1998
• Catherine Monbeig Goguel, "Francesco Salviati et la Bella Maniera. Quelques points à revoir. Interprétation, chronologie, attributions", in Francesco Salviati et la Bella Maniera : actes des colloques de Rome et Paris, 1998, Rome: École Française de Rome, 2001, pp. 15-68. (Publications de l’École française de Rome, 284)
• Catherine Monbeig Goguel, Inventaire général des dessins italiens, I: Maîtres toscans nés après 1500, morts avant 1600, Vasari et son temps, Paris, 1972
Exhibition:
• Eindhoven, Stedelijk van Abbe Museum, 16de en 17de Eeuwsche Hollandsche, Vlaamsche en Italiaansche Schilderijen uit de collectie fer Fa. D. Katz te Dieren, 1936-37, no. 94 (as Francesco Salviati).

"[…] as much a poet as he was a painter […] in both fields, he expressed his views and ideas with more sensitivity and care than anyone else."
The son of a Florentine velvet weaver, Francesco de’ Rossi showed an early talent in the handling of the pencil. He grew up alongside his childhood friend, the famous painter and architect Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). Together, they studied the drawings and works of the masters of the previous generation, and like many Florentine artists, the young artist completed his training in a goldsmith’s workshop. When he arrived in Rome in 1531, Francesco was 21 years old. He chose the pseudonym Salviati after his first patron, Cardinal Giovanni Salviati. Becoming a full member of this scholarly collector’s household, the young painter, nicknamed creato, gained new fame. Salviati’s patronage allowed him to enter the circle of the gentiluomini and forge relationships with many patrons in the Eternal City, including some prominent members of the powerful Farnese family. From then on, Vasari defined him in his Vite as a virtuoso and universal painter.
Salviati and Vasari proudly illustrate, alongside Primatice and Bronzino, the second generation of Mannerism, which reached its peak between 1540 and 1570. Indeed, by the 1540s, commissions were multiplying: Salviati was designated one of the finest painters of Holy Families and was praised for his large decorative works. In 1544, Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici summoned the painter to Florence to decorate the audience hall of the Palazzo Vecchio.
Admiring Michelangelo’s work, from which he derived the elegance of figures and tried to perfect his style, Francesco Salviati more broadly illustrated the quintessence of 16th-century Italian art: the Bella Maniera, grace and artifice as the culmination of all artistic activity.
Beyond religious painting and grand secular Mannerist decoration, Salviati was dedicated to portraying this maniera in the art of portraiture. As a political and social tool of the elite, the painted portrait was used as an instrument of communication, celebrating the memory of the commissioner for posterity.
This style became popular when the Medici, wealthy merchants driven out of Florence at the end of the 15th century, returned to the forefront of political life. Salviati also painted the portrait of Giovanni de’ Medici, known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere (John of the Black Bands).
As seen in our portrait, figures are often depicted in busts or half-length, detached from austere, solid backgrounds in bright or darker greens. Gradually, Bronzino, Sarto, Salviati, Pontormo, who became court painters, received special recognition. They were regarded as intellectuals and essential to the development of power.
The creation of a portrait demands a lengthy process of observation. Salviati studied, sketched on the spot, and made many drafts to faithfully capture the physical marks of power through the psychological intensity of the gaze and expensive clothing. Our model is a nobleman in a black doublet with a turned-down collar, wearing the latest fashion of the day. From 1515, men’s haircuts became shorter, and among the hat styles, the round, flat felt beret worn here was particularly popular.
Our model seems to have been interrupted mid-thought. The cold hardness of the gaze, with slightly sunken eyes as seen in Salviati and Bronzino’s works, became a feature of portraits from this decade (1540-1550). The models’ posture, with elegant stiffness, reflects a certain serenity and a melancholic expression.
Although recent discoveries open the door to new findings, Francesco Salviati’s painted work remains rare. However, it was extremely varied: sketches, tapestry designs, book illustrations, frescoes, allegorical figures, religious works, and finally noble portraits, of which the one presented here is a spectacular example. In search of high-ranking patrons, Salviati found his way in the elitist society of princely and episcopal courts. He traveled through Florence, then Rome, Venice, and made a brief stay in France in 1556-1557, in the service of Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine, before returning to Rome, where he settled permanently until his death in 1563.

M.O