Cardinal Wearing a Biretta
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Catalogue Number:
42
Artist:
Ottavio-Maria Leoni (1587-1630)
Title:
Cardinal Wearing a Biretta
Work Type:
Drawing
Date:
16th Century
Culture:
Italian
Medium:
black and white chalks on green-grey paper
Dimensions:
4 3/4 X 3 3/4in.
Watermark:
Fragment of a watermark
Condition:
clean, intact, stable
Credit Line:
Cornell College, Gift of Robert Sonnenschein II
Accession Year:
1951
Object Number:
1951.42
Commentary:
Ottavio Maria-Leoni (Leone Padovanino, Ottavio Leoni, Ottavio Mario Leoni de’Narsari) was a prolific artist in seventeenth-century Rome who was best-known for his draftsmanship in the execution of sensitive portraits; his most famous one may be that of Caravaggio at the Biblioteca Marucelliana in Florence. Although the sitter for this particular portrait in the Sonnenchein Collection is unknown, the figure looks like a youthful portrait of Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Nevertheless, it bears the greatest similarity, in terms of execution, to an image of another unknown cardinal owned by the Morgan Library & Museum. Ottavio was followed by his stepson, painter and draftsman Ippolito Leoni (1627-1673). Many of Ottavio Leoni’s portraits include identifying dates and numbers. This suggests that this work, if by Ottavio Leoni, dates prior to January 1615 when he began adding those elements to his portraits. CMP