Portrait of Andrea Barbarigo, half-length, in a suit of armor with a naval battle beyond

Details

STUDIO OF JACOPO TINTORETTO (VENICE 1519-1594)
Portrait of Andrea Barbarigo, half-length, in a suit of armor with a naval battle beyond
inscribed and dated 'ANDREAS / BARBADICVS / TRIREMIS GVR / MDLXXI' (lower left, below the window)
oil on canvas
37 5/8 x 34 ¼ in (95.5 x 87 cm)

Provenance

Emile E. Wolf (1899-1996), New York, by 1955.
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, and by which deaccessioned; Sotheby's, New York, 7 June 1978, lot 186, as Jacopo Robusti, called Il Tintoretto and Studio.

Literature

B.B. Fredricksen and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Private Collections, Cambridge, MA, 1972, p . 201.
P. Rossi, Jacopo Tintoretto: i ritratti, I, Venice, 1973, pp. 60, note I, pp. 75 and 120-121, no. 227, fig. 227.
'Auctions', The New York Times, 2 June 1978, section C, p. 17.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The naval engagement seen through the window must be the Battle of Lepanto since the window-frame bears the battle's date (1571). Andrea Barbarigo commanded the Fortuna and lost his life in the fray, alongside his brother Giorgio who also commanded a ship (Tre Mani). Although the Barbarigo family suffered greatly, the battle was a major victory for the Venetians against the Ottoman fleet, and is known today as the last great Western naval battle fought between rowing ships.

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