Possibly Anna Colonna (1601-1658), Princess of Paliano, Rome (whose symbol of a column surmounted by a crown is lower left);
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 14 January 1994, lot 9 (as Attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola);
There purchased by the present collector.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work on slate is unbroken and in very fresh condition. The background seems to have retained its glazes, and there has been no instability to the work. A very small amount of retouching is visible under ultraviolet light, in the dark side of the background on the right addressing a few spots of loss or cracking, in the top of the shoulder on the left side, in the center of the forehead, above and below the mouth on the right side, on the right side of the nose and beneath the ear on the right. It is not easy to tell whether the picture is dirty, but it is very dully varnished. It seems that it would be beneficial if the work were cleaned and varnished in a way that would illuminate the figure and not just the background. The condition is very impressive, and this is a picture that would certainly improve with a small amount of conservation.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This arresting and beautifully observed portrait is an intense study of a young man in an interior which, despite its high quality, has thus far eluded secure attribution. The unusual slate support - which produces such a crisp and satisfying paint surface - is often associated with Verona and the North of Italy, but is also found in 16th-century works from Tuscany and Rome. When sold in 1994 it was attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola, who was active in Cremona, and the directness of the sitter’s gaze certainly finds parallels with the idiosyncratic style of that city’s portraiture. However, the Colonna provenance, which is discussed below, would strongly suggest that the work was executed in Rome. The high quality of the portrait and the slate support in particular have led some to associate the work with the Venetian Sebastiano del Piombo, who was to settle in Rome. Sebastiano often worked on slate and several of his portraits on this medium survive. The use of a green background is also a feature of some of his portraits including the celebrated Portrait of a Woman, on panel, in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.¹ Certainly the author of this painting was an accomplished artist who understood how to work with the naturally dark color of the slate to accentuate the play of chiaroscuro, particularly in the left half of the sitter’s face and in the shadow to the right of the composition.

The symbol of a column surmounted by what looks like a crown (lower left) appears to be that of the Prince of Paliano, Filippo I Colonna (1578-1639), or that of his family. The yellow numbering was clearly done at the same time as the 'marking' lower left and appears to be very similar to that found on ex-Barberini paintings, making it quite likely that the picture was numbered and marked on the occasion of a union between the two families, perhaps for purposes of division. Filippo's daughter, Anna Colonna (1601-1658), herself Princess of Paliano, was twenty-six years old when she married Taddeo Barberini (1603-1647), who was two years her junior, in 1627. By the end of 1645, Taddeo, along with his brothers Francesco and Antonio, had fled Rome to the court of France due to the financial scandal that followed the death of his uncle, Pope Urban VIII. He died in Paris in November 1647 and his will placed his properties and possessions in the hands of his brothers and wife. Of Anna and Taddeo's five children, the oldest son, Carlo, was made the chief heir and a complete inventory was drawn up of his estate. As far as we know Taddeo made no inventories of the art objects he owned during his lifetime and thus the posthumous inventory of 1648-49 is the only record we have; in it, paintings are summarily described in terms of subject matter without any attempt to give attributions. The bulk of Taddeo's art collection was ultimately inherited by his second son Maffeo (1631-1685), whose own inventory includes a number of artists' names, which means that some objects can be identified retrospectively.



1. See C. Strinati and B.W. Lindeman (eds.), Sebastiano del Piombo, exhibition catalogue, Rome 2008, pp. 142-43, cat. no. 21, reproduced in color.