.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Active in Florence by 1552 Cristofano de' Papi, called Altissimo, was a pupil of Pontormo and Bronzino and specialized in portraiture. In July 1552 he was sent to Como by Cosimo I de' Medici to copy the portraits of famous men in Paolo Giovio's museum. By the time of his death, Giovio, an Italian historian, physician, humanist and collector, had formed a collection singular by virtue of its size and content. It comprised over 400 portraits of illustrious and infamous Europeans, past and contemporary, and a number of subjects from the dynasties of the Near and Middle East, and elsewhere.
The present work is a portrait of Pope Paul II (1417-1471) and is a copy of an existing portrait in Giovio's collection. Before being elected in 1464, Pope Paul II was Archdeacon of Bologna, Bishop of Cervia and of Vicenza and cardinal-deacon. Noted for his generosity and imposing appearance, the Cardinal of Venice, as he was called, delighted in display. He introduced splendid carnival festivities and built the palace of S. Marco (now di Venezia). He was also a collector of works of ancient art and is hence represented in profile as were the effigies on Roman coins and medals which resurfaced during the Renaissance (an important quantity of them was unearthed at the University of Pisa) that were very much in vogue at the time. Indeed a profile gives added gravitas to the sitter while conveying his noble appearance. Pope Paul II is represented here in austere papal splendor, his sumptuously embroidered gold cope set off by the black background, his jaw clenched in defiance as he looks authoritatively ahead.
By 1591 most of Altissimo's copies of works from the Paolo Giovio museum had been transferred to the corridors of the Uffizi, where they form part of the museum's large collection of portraits and where a version of this painting can still be found today (inv. no. 2986).
The present work is a portrait of Pope Paul II (1417-1471) and is a copy of an existing portrait in Giovio's collection. Before being elected in 1464, Pope Paul II was Archdeacon of Bologna, Bishop of Cervia and of Vicenza and cardinal-deacon. Noted for his generosity and imposing appearance, the Cardinal of Venice, as he was called, delighted in display. He introduced splendid carnival festivities and built the palace of S. Marco (now di Venezia). He was also a collector of works of ancient art and is hence represented in profile as were the effigies on Roman coins and medals which resurfaced during the Renaissance (an important quantity of them was unearthed at the University of Pisa) that were very much in vogue at the time. Indeed a profile gives added gravitas to the sitter while conveying his noble appearance. Pope Paul II is represented here in austere papal splendor, his sumptuously embroidered gold cope set off by the black background, his jaw clenched in defiance as he looks authoritatively ahead.
By 1591 most of Altissimo's copies of works from the Paolo Giovio museum had been transferred to the corridors of the Uffizi, where they form part of the museum's large collection of portraits and where a version of this painting can still be found today (inv. no. 2986).