FILTER RESULTS
Portrait of a Boy of the Bracciforte Family of Piacenza
ca. 156065 x 34 5/8 in. (165.1 x 87.9 cm)
Niccolò dell' Abate
Italy (Modena, Italy, 1509-1512 - 1571, Fontainebleau (?)) Previous attribution
Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli
Italy (Viadana, Italy, ca. 1505 - ca. 1569, Parma, Italy)
Object Type:
Painting
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Marion Stratton Gould Fund
Accession Number:
1976.13
Location: Currently on view
Every pictorial element in this full-length portrait of a young boy refers to his aristocratic heritage and high status in society. His costume is made of a richly-textured fabric trimmed with buttons of gold; the elegant purse at his waist, his fashionable small plumed hat and the golden hilt of his sword attest to the wealth of his family. The coat of arms on the gilded medallion he holds in his right hand clearly identifies him as a member of the Bracciforte family of Piacenza, one of the richest cities in Renaissance Europe. A book, flute and allegorical statue of Fame, shown here as a winged figure holding two long, thin trumpets, are on a table at his right; they suggest the importance of education and music in the highest strata of Renaissance society.
For decades, this portrait was attributed to the painter Niccolò dell’Abate. Recent scholarship, however, has suggested that it is the work of Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, who was well known for his portraits of the Farnese and other notable and aristocratic families in the Duchy of Piacenza as well as the nearby Duchy of Parma. These two duchies united only a few years after this portrait was painted.
[Gallery label text]
For decades, this portrait was attributed to the painter Niccolò dell’Abate. Recent scholarship, however, has suggested that it is the work of Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, who was well known for his portraits of the Farnese and other notable and aristocratic families in the Duchy of Piacenza as well as the nearby Duchy of Parma. These two duchies united only a few years after this portrait was painted.
[Gallery label text]
Provenance
Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi (1878-1955), Florence, Italy; Myron C. Taylor (1874-1959), New York; Wildenstein Galleries, New York; purchased from them by the Gallery in 1976
Keywords
Click a term to view the records with the same keyword
Additional Images
Click an image to view a larger version
Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Treasures from Rochester Memorial Art Gallery 4/14/1977 - 5/28/1977
- Masterpieces for Rochester: Acquisitions Since 1975 11/24/1978 - 1/7/1979
- Gloria dell'Arte: A Renaissance Perspective Philbrook Art Center 10/28/1979 - 1/27/1980
- The Age of Correggio and the Carracci The National Gallery of Art (Washington) 9/10/1986 - 5/24/1987
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Author: Schilling, Susan E.. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Susan Dodge Peters, ed. Memorial Art Gallery: An Introduction to the Collection. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery in association with Hudson Hills Press, 1988. Page Number: 68-69
- Article Title: Acquisitions: Dell'Abbate. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995. Volume Number: 42, Issue Number: 1. Issue Date: July-August 1976.
- Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. Denys Sutton. Treasures from Rochester: Exhibited at Wildenstein Galleries, New York, April 14-May 28, 1977: Summary Catalogue. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1977.
- Article Title: Gallery gets 16th C. art. Article Scope: Article. Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, NY: Rochester Print Co. Issue Date: June 15, 1976.
- Article Title: Acquisitions. Article Scope: Article. Art Journal. New York, New York: College Art Association of America Volume Number: 36 Issue Date: Fall 1976. Page Number: 62
- Article Author: Brayer, Betsy. Article Title: New Painting for Gallery. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Brighton-Pittsford Post. Pittsford, NY Issue Date: June 17, 1976. Page Number: 9B
- Article Title: A Rare Painting for Rochester. Article Scope: Reproduction only. Apollo. London, England: Apollo Volume Number: CIV, Issue Number: 175. Issue Date: September 1976. Page Number: 240
- The Museologist. Newark, DE: Northeast Museums Conference
- Article Title: Gallery's New Rare Painting is Here. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Currents. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Volume Number: 4, Issue Number: 22. Issue Date: June 18, 1976.
- Article Scope: Mention. Elizabeth Brayer. Magnum Opus: The Story of the Memorial Art Gallery, 1913-1988. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1988.
- Article Title: Recent Museum Acquisitions. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. The Connoisseur. London, England: The Connoisseur Volume Number: 193 Issue Date: September 1976. Page Number: 71
- Article Scope: Advertisement. Art News. Issue Date: April 1977.
- Memorial Art Gallery. ARTiculate. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2000--.
- Article Title: Principales Acquisitions de musées en 1975. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Les Chronique des Arts (Supplément à la Gazette des Beaux-Arts). Issue Number: 183. Issue Date: March 1977. Page Number: 46
- Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1986.
- Article Author: Schilling, Susan E.. Article Title: Acquisitions: Portrait of a Boy of the Bracciforte Family by Niccolo dell'Abbat. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Annual Report. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery Issue Date: 1975-1976. Page Number: 10-11
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Helen Comstock. 100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America. New York, NY: Viking Press, 1965.
- Ferruccia Cappi Bentivegna. Abbigliamento e Costume Nella Pittura Italiana. Rome: C. Bestetti, 1962.
- Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. Gloria dell'Arte: A Renaissance Perspective. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Philbrook Art Center, 1979.
- Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. La Pittura in Emilia e in Romagna: Il Cinquecento. Romagna: Credito Romagnolo, 1994.
- Article Author: Béguin, Sylvie. Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. Nell'età di Correggio e dei Carracci: pittura in Emilia dei secoli XVI e XVII. Bologna, Italy: Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, 1986. Page Number: 48-50
- Article Author: Ekserdjian, David. Article Title: Bedoli, Girolamo Mazzola. Article Scope: Entry. Jane Turner, ed. The Dictionary of Art. New York, NY: Grove's Dictionaries, 1996.
- Article Author: Lazzari, Gianni. Article Title: Fonti Iconografiche Italiane del Consort Omogeneo Di Traverse. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Nikolaus Delius, ed. Sine Musica Nulla Vita: Festschrift Hermann Moeck zum 75. Geburtstag am 16. September 1997. Celle, Germany: Moeck Verlag und Musikinstrumentenwerk, 1997. Page Number: 201-219, Figure Number: 3, p. 209
- Article Scope: Catalogue Raisonné entry and reproduction. Mario Di Giampaolo. Girolamo Bedoli: 1500-1569: Citta di Viadana. Florence, Italy: Franco Cantini Editore, 1997.
- Article Author: Ghirardi, Angela. Article Title: Exempla per l'Iconografia dell' infanzia nel secondo cinquecento Padano. Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Il Carrobbio. Bologna: Edizioni L. Parma Volume Number: XIX-XX Issue Date: 1993-1994. Page Number: 126, Figure Number: p. 125
- Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Marjorie Searl and Lu Harper. The Memorial Art Gallery: 100 Years. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2013.
Portfolio List
Click a portfolio name to view all the objects in that portfolio
This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Web Links
See links to web pages and lesson plans
Passport to the Past
A Tour of the Ancient, European and Asian Collections of the Memorial Art Gallery.
The Passport to the Past tour and Image Set complement several areas of study and understanding as mandated by the NYS Board of Regents Social Studies curriculum for the sixth grade level as well as higher grade levels.
The Passport to the Past tour and Image Set complement several areas of study and understanding as mandated by the NYS Board of Regents Social Studies curriculum for the sixth grade level as well as higher grade levels.
MAGexplore
MAGexplore provides in-depth information and close looking at over 200 objects in MAG's collection.