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拍品專文
Painted in 1545, this striking portrait of the young Genoese aristocrat, Nicolò Doria, is among Jacopo Tintoretto's earliest known essays in the genre and a rare example of his use of the full-length format. Born circa 1525, Nicolò belonged to the ancient, noble Doria family, the most powerful in 16th-century Genoa. A direct descendant of the celebrated naval commander, Lamba Doria (1245-1323), Nicolò was the first-born son of Giacomo (or Jacopo) Doria and Bettina De' Mari. As was the case with his brothers and sisters, Nicolò made an advantageous marriage, taking as his bride a member of the Genoese patriciate, Aurelia Grimaldi, daughter of Nicolò Grimaldi, the banker to King Philip II of Spain. The marriage took place during the civil strife in Genoa of 1575-1576 that pitted the old nobility, such as the Dorias, against the new nobility, as represented by the Grimaldis. Nonetheless, the union resulted in nine children, of which the two sons eventually married into the illustrious Spinola family. By the time of his marriage, Nicolò had become one of the wealthiest men in Genoa.
Doria's distinguished political career began some ten years after Tintoretto painted this portrait. With the support of his paternal uncle, the Doge Giovanni Battista Doria (c.1470-1554), he was appointed a member of Genoa's main legislative body, the Maggior Consiglio, in 1555. In 1566, he was among the Genoese representatives sent to Rome to witness Pius V's ascension to the papal throne, and in the later 1550s and 1560s, held numerous other important diplomatic and administrative posts. His political career culminated in 1579, when he was elected Doge of the Republic, receiving the largest majority of votes recorded to date. Nicolò died on 13 October 1592, and was buried in the family church of San Matteo, where his brother Agostino, also Doge, (1534-1608) was later laid to rest.
As Tintoretto is not known to have visited Genoa, Nicolò must have posed for the artist on a visit to Venice, where his father had lived from 1529-1541, and where the family still had many close ties. In the early 1530s, Nicolò's father had commissioned Titian to paint his portrait, now preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (fig. 1). It is not surprising that for his own portrait, the twenty-year-old Nicolò would turn to Tintoretto--a less established but promising artist of his own generation, who, like him, was then coming into his own. As in other of Tintoretto's early portraits, Titian's influence is here seen in the restrained palette and strong light which focuses on the sitter's relatively firmly defined facial features and hands. While Nicolò's intense and penetrating gaze echoes that of his father in Titian's portrait, he is here presented life-size and full length, a grander, more imposing format which may signal his youthful ambitions. While unusual at this time, the use of this format was likely inspired by Titian's so-called Portrait of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza of circa 1541, now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (fig. 2), which Tintoretto surely knew.
In the present portrait, the sitter is turned at a three-quarter angle, with his right arm akimbo and his left hand poised on the hilt of his sword, suggesting energy and decisiveness. The sweeping curve of the curtain at left, with its zig-zag pattern of folds, underscores the figure's vitality, as does the strong diagonal accent of the sword. Set close to the picture plane and gazing resolutely at the viewer, Nicolò projects a commanding, forceful presence. While the monumental stone pier on the right augments this impression, it also identifies Nicolò as a member of Genoa's ancient ruling elite, who since the early 13th century had built churches and palaces faced with similar alternating bands of dark and light stone. The painted pier may specifically allude to the façade of San Matteo, the Doria family church since its founding in 1125, which is still faced with such stone coursings today (L'Età di Rubens, op. cit., p. 198).
As Boccardo has shown, this picture is probably identifiable with 'uno ritrato in piedi mano del Tintoretto' [a portrait, full-length, by the hand of Tintoretto] listed in the inventory of the sitter's nephew, Giovanni Carlo Doria (1576-1625), drawn up by late 1621 (L'Età di Rubens, op. cit., pp. 194, 198). It subsequently passed to his brother, Marc'Antonio Doria (1572-1651), in whose inventory of 1651 it was erroneously given to Titian: 'Del quondam Illustrissimo Nicolò Doria zio paterno quando era giovine per mano di Titiano' [sic]. [Of the late most worthy Nicolò Doria, paternal uncle, when he was young, by the hand of Titian.] (Pacelli, op. cit., p. 84). The picture then passed, along with other of the most important family portraits, to Marc'Antonio's son, Giovanni Francesco Doria (1601-1653), after which it was lost to notice until circa 1830, when recorded in the collection of Giuseppe Finetti in Milan. The Portrait of Nicolò Doria resurfaced in the mid-20th century in the collection of Algernon Heber-Percy at Hodnet Hall, Shropshire. He may have inherited it from the descendants of Algernon Percy, nephew of the 5th Duke of Northumberland, who had married Emily Heber, daughter of Bishop Heber, in 1839. Sold by Heber-Percy at Christie's, London, in 1967, the Portrait of Nicolò Doria has remained in the same collection until the present day.
Doria's distinguished political career began some ten years after Tintoretto painted this portrait. With the support of his paternal uncle, the Doge Giovanni Battista Doria (c.1470-1554), he was appointed a member of Genoa's main legislative body, the Maggior Consiglio, in 1555. In 1566, he was among the Genoese representatives sent to Rome to witness Pius V's ascension to the papal throne, and in the later 1550s and 1560s, held numerous other important diplomatic and administrative posts. His political career culminated in 1579, when he was elected Doge of the Republic, receiving the largest majority of votes recorded to date. Nicolò died on 13 October 1592, and was buried in the family church of San Matteo, where his brother Agostino, also Doge, (1534-1608) was later laid to rest.
As Tintoretto is not known to have visited Genoa, Nicolò must have posed for the artist on a visit to Venice, where his father had lived from 1529-1541, and where the family still had many close ties. In the early 1530s, Nicolò's father had commissioned Titian to paint his portrait, now preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (fig. 1). It is not surprising that for his own portrait, the twenty-year-old Nicolò would turn to Tintoretto--a less established but promising artist of his own generation, who, like him, was then coming into his own. As in other of Tintoretto's early portraits, Titian's influence is here seen in the restrained palette and strong light which focuses on the sitter's relatively firmly defined facial features and hands. While Nicolò's intense and penetrating gaze echoes that of his father in Titian's portrait, he is here presented life-size and full length, a grander, more imposing format which may signal his youthful ambitions. While unusual at this time, the use of this format was likely inspired by Titian's so-called Portrait of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza of circa 1541, now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (fig. 2), which Tintoretto surely knew.
In the present portrait, the sitter is turned at a three-quarter angle, with his right arm akimbo and his left hand poised on the hilt of his sword, suggesting energy and decisiveness. The sweeping curve of the curtain at left, with its zig-zag pattern of folds, underscores the figure's vitality, as does the strong diagonal accent of the sword. Set close to the picture plane and gazing resolutely at the viewer, Nicolò projects a commanding, forceful presence. While the monumental stone pier on the right augments this impression, it also identifies Nicolò as a member of Genoa's ancient ruling elite, who since the early 13th century had built churches and palaces faced with similar alternating bands of dark and light stone. The painted pier may specifically allude to the façade of San Matteo, the Doria family church since its founding in 1125, which is still faced with such stone coursings today (L'Età di Rubens, op. cit., p. 198).
As Boccardo has shown, this picture is probably identifiable with 'uno ritrato in piedi mano del Tintoretto' [a portrait, full-length, by the hand of Tintoretto] listed in the inventory of the sitter's nephew, Giovanni Carlo Doria (1576-1625), drawn up by late 1621 (L'Età di Rubens, op. cit., pp. 194, 198). It subsequently passed to his brother, Marc'Antonio Doria (1572-1651), in whose inventory of 1651 it was erroneously given to Titian: 'Del quondam Illustrissimo Nicolò Doria zio paterno quando era giovine per mano di Titiano' [sic]. [Of the late most worthy Nicolò Doria, paternal uncle, when he was young, by the hand of Titian.] (Pacelli, op. cit., p. 84). The picture then passed, along with other of the most important family portraits, to Marc'Antonio's son, Giovanni Francesco Doria (1601-1653), after which it was lost to notice until circa 1830, when recorded in the collection of Giuseppe Finetti in Milan. The Portrait of Nicolò Doria resurfaced in the mid-20th century in the collection of Algernon Heber-Percy at Hodnet Hall, Shropshire. He may have inherited it from the descendants of Algernon Percy, nephew of the 5th Duke of Northumberland, who had married Emily Heber, daughter of Bishop Heber, in 1839. Sold by Heber-Percy at Christie's, London, in 1967, the Portrait of Nicolò Doria has remained in the same collection until the present day.