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

Domenico Puligo
Florence 1492-1527
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Portrait of Agnolo di Taddeo di Agnolo Gaddi
Oil on panel, in a period Medici frame
Inscribed on the upper edge GNOLO DI TADDEO DI AGN: GADDI (the family seal in red wax on the back of
the panel)
48 x 37.6 cm (18 7 ⁄8 x 14 3 ⁄4 in.)
Provenance
Gaddi collection, Florence, first half of the 16 th century; Frederick Henry Paul Methuen, 2 nd baron Methuen
(1818 – 1891), Corsham Court, in the 19 th century; Charles William Dowdeswell; John Graeme-Thomson,
Shipton Court Oxfordshire; thence by descent to the current owner.
Literature
G.F. Waagen, Works of Art and Artists in England, vol. III, London, 1888, p. 98: “Andrea del Sarto, Portrait of
a young man delicate, [...] much-promising and, in appearance, genuine picture”; E. Capretti, S. Padovani [et
al.], Domenico Puligo (1492-1527). Un protagonista dimenticato della pittura fiorentina, exhibition catalogue,
Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 28 September 2002 – 5 January 2003, p. 25.
Exhibition
Royal Academy, Exhibition of works by the Old Masters and by deceased masters of the British School, Winter
exhibition, 1877, p. 22, no. 121, as Andrea del Sarto (lent by Lord Methuen).
This magnificent portrait of a young man, traditionally
attributed to Andrea del Sarto can in fact be given
to the Florentine painter, Domenico di Bartolomeo
Ubaldini, called Puligo, by comparison with other
very similar portraits, such as one of Piero Carnesecchi
(1508-1567) in the Uffizi museum in Florence, painted
in 1527 (fig. 1). The comparison with the figure of this
Florentine humanist can furthermore allow us to date
our painting to the end of the 1520s. The hairstyle,
dress and black hat that appear in several Florentine
examples of portraits of the same period confirm this
dating.
During the 19 th century, this Portrait of a Young
Man was catalogued under the name of Andrea del
Sarto in the famous collection of Lord Methuen at
Corsham Court and it was exhibited at the Royal
Academy in 1877. This confusion is common in 19 th
century inventories, as many English collectors had
acquired paintings by Puligo, mostly portraits, all of
good quality, thinking they were buying works by del
Sarto. This was the case for paintings in the Cowper,
Lansdowne and Butler collections (including the
Portrait of a Woman as Mary Magdalen, acquired in
1912 by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa,)
were acquired and catalogued under the name of
Andrea del Sarto until the first studies of the early 20 th
century, especially those of Carlo Gamba and Emil
Schaeffer who were the first to identify the portrait
of Pietro Carnesecchi thanks to the description by
Giorgio Vasari. 1
Ce magnifique portrait de jeune homme,
traditionnellement attribué à Andrea del Sarto, peut
en réalité être rendu au peintre florentin Domenico
di Bartolomeo Ubaldini, dit Domenico Puligo, par
la comparaison avec d’autres portraits très proches,
comme celui de Piero Carnesecchi (1508-1567)
conservé au musée des Offices de Florence et peint
en 1527 (fig. 1). La comparaison avec l’effigie de
cet humaniste florentin permet en outre de dater
notre tableau de la fin des années 1520. La coiffure,
l’habillement et le chapeau noir que l’on retrouve sur
plusieurs modèles florentins de portraits de la même
époque confirment cette datation.
C’est sous le nom d’Andrea del Sarto que ce Portrait
de jeune homme était répertorié au xix e siècle dans
la célèbre collection de Lord Methuen, à Corsham
Court, et qu’il fut exposé en 1877 à la Royal Academy.
Cette confusion est fréquente dans les inventaires du
xix e siècle, de nombreux collectionneurs anglais ayant
acquis des œuvres de Puligo, majoritairement des
portraits, tous de très belle facture, en pensant acheter
des œuvres de la main de Sarto. Ainsi, les tableaux
des collections Cowper, Lansdowne ou Butler (dont
le Portrait de femme en Madeleine, entré en 1912 à la
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa) furent répertoriés
sous le nom d’Andrea del Sarto jusqu’aux premières
études du début du xx e siècle, notamment celles de
Carlo Gamba et Emil Schaeffer qui, les premiers,
identifièrent le portrait de Pietro Carnesecchi grâce à
sa description par Giorgio Vasari 1 .
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