XVII - Master Paintings - Jean Luc Baroni and Marty de Cambiaire

Federico Barocci
Urbino ca. 1535 - 1612
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Portrait of a Gentleman
Oil on canvas
54,3 x 42,5 cm (21 3 /8 x 16 3 /4 in.)
Provenance
Christie’s London, 3 December 1997, lot 35; Jean-Luc Baroni, London; Private Collection, France.
Literature
Jean-Luc Baroni, Master Painting, 1998, no. 6; Nicholas Turner, Federico Barocci, Adam Biro, 2000, p.126,
illustrated p.125, fig. 113.
Exhibition
From January 2006 to March 2019, on loan from the owner to the Musée de Beaux-Arts in Lyon for public
exhibition.
The Barocci family had settled in Urbino in the
second half of the fifteenth century, when its founder
Ambrogio Barocci was summoned to participate in the
decoration of the Palazzo Ducale. Many generations
of the family had been craftsmen and astronomers.
Ambrogio Barocci the Younger, the grandson of the
founder, made a successful career in Urbino as ‘a maker
of molds, relief models, seals and astrolabes’, but his
son Federico, although initiated to his father’s trade,
vowed to dedicate himself to painting. He entered the
studio of the Venetian Battista Franco, who came to
Urbino around 1545 after having worked in Rome.
After his departure, Barocci continued his training in
Pesaro with his uncle, the architect Bartolomeo Genga,
who helped him perfect his knowledge of ‘geometry,
architecture, and perspective, in which disciplines he
became erudite.’ 1
Two journeys to Rome, one around 1550-1555 and
the other in 1560-63, completed his training. In the
Eternal City, Barocci quickly gained respect and
admiration. His acquaintance with Taddeo Zuccaro
and the support of the cardinal Giulio della Rovere
helped him obtain important commissions, the most
remarkable of which was certainly his decorations on
the theme of the life of Christ in the so-called Casino
of Pius IV, which was built in the Vatican gardens
by the architect Pirro Ligorio. The success of these
decorations, even before they were finished, attracted
the envy of rival painters who poisoned him. Barocci
never fully recovered after this incident and his health
remained frail thereafter. The artist returned to Urbino
and although he rarely left his native town again, with
the support of the duke Francesco Maria della Rovere
he received numerous commissions for churches in
the Marches.
Barocci’s fame, aided by the diffusion of prints, spread
Installée depuis la seconde partie du xv e siècle à
Urbino, où le sculpteur Ambrogio Barocci avait été
appelé à participer aux décors du Palazzo Ducale,
la famille Barocci était constituée depuis plusieurs
générations d’artisans et d‘astronomes. Ambrogio le
jeune, petit-fils du précédent, y fit carrière comme
« fabricant de moules, de maquettes en relief, de
sceaux et d’astrolabes », mais son fils Federico, bien
que formé à ce métier, émit le vœu de se consacrer à
la peinture. Il entra dans l’atelier de Battista Franco,
qui, originaire de Venise et ayant travaillé à Rome, vint
s’installer quelque temps à Urbino vers 1545. Après
son départ, Barocci continua sa formation à Pesaro
chez son oncle, l’architecte Bartolomeo Genga, auprès
duquel il perfectionna son savoir en ce qui concerne
« la géométrie, l’architecture et la perspective, toutes
matières dans lesquelles il devint érudit 1 ».
Deux voyages à Rome, l’un vers 1550-1555, l’autre
en 1560-1563, achevèrent sa formation. Dans la
Cité éternelle, Barocci fut rapidement admiré et
respecté. Proche de Taddeo Zuccaro et soutenu par le
cardinal Giulio della Rovere, il obtint d’importantes
commandes, parmi lesquelles les plus remarquables
sont certainement ses travaux décoratifs sur le thème
de la vie du Christ réalisés dans le casino de Pie IV,
érigé sur les plan de Pirro Ligorio dans les jardins
du Vatican. Le succès de ce décor, alors même qu’il
n’était pas achevé, attisa la jalousie de peintres rivaux
qui l’empoisonnèrent, ce dont il ne se remit jamais
complètement, gardant toute sa vie une santé précaire.
Il rentra à Urbino qu’il ne quitta alors plus que très
rarement ce qui n’empêcha pas que, soutenu par le
duc Francesco Maria della Rovere, il obtint de très
nombreuses commandes pour les églises des Marches.
Son talent ne resta pas confiné à Urbino et, par le biais
de la gravure, connut une large diffusion, faisant de
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