"Barbara di Santa Sofia" and "Il Prete Genovese": On the Identity of a Portrait by

Bernardo Strozzi
Author(s): David Rosand and Ellen Rosand
Source: The Art Bulletin , Jun., 1981, Vol. 63, No. 2 (Jun., 1981), pp. 249-258
Published by: CAA

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"Barbara di Santa Sofia" and "Il Prete Genovese": On the Identity of a
Portrait by Bernardo Strozzi

David Rosand and Ellen Rosand

Among the splendors of Dresden that traveled through expression speaks very directly and movingly to us -
the United States in 1978-79 was a painting by the perhaps with just a trace of the boredom of a posing sitter.
Genoese Bernardo Strozzi that bore the rather We propose that this picture is indeed a portrait, one of
straightforward descriptive title of "Female Musician the rarewith
female portraits in Strozzi's oeuvre.3 Seeking to
Viola da Gamba" (Fig. 1).1 Compositionally and establish a precise identity for the sitter, our discussion
thematically, the picture relates to a type of image that had will serve as well to shed new light on certain problematic
become a particularly popular item in Strozzi's repertoire, aspects of the biography of the painter; in particular, it
the representation of Saint Cecilia (Fig. 2).2 Despite the will help to clarify Strozzi's troubled relationship with the
basic similarity, however, the subject of the Dresden Capuchin Order and to define with greater precision the
canvas stands out; against the typological standard of the cultural ambience in which he found refuge and support
painter's Saint Cecilias, she asserts a very definite in- during his last years in Venice.
dividuality. Those pious young ladies reveal the If the Dresden picture is in certain ways the culmination
physiognomic traits of a shared family background, a of Bernardo Strozzi's continuing involvement with the
common genetic source: their full faces, round eyes, and subject of Saint Cecilia, it is still more a kind of transcen-
small round noses are the stamp of Strozzi's own well- dence, ironically earthly, of that imagery. However much
established pictorial style. In comparison, the female she may be a variation on the pictorial theme of Saint
musician from Dresden is distinguished by a more in- Cecilia, our female musician, it is abundantly clear, hardly
dividualized physiognomy, her features rendered with assumes the guise of the ecstatic, musically inspired saint.
more deliberate attention to small idiosyncrasies, Her attention is not turned toward Heaven; this young
irregularities of shape and structure in the eyes, nose, and lady's glance instead directly engages us, her viewers.
mouth. Rather than a generalized personification of Contrasting with the pathos of her mask, the seductive
music, an allegorical type, this representation has usually looseness of her costume provocatively, and with artful
been recognized as a portrait, the image of a specific deliberateness, displays her ample bosom. The flowers in
young woman. Her pensive, indeed almost melancholic her hair would seem to suggest an association with Flora,

1 The Splendor of Dresden: Five Centuries of Art Collecting (An Exhibi- 3 The few images of specific women - none actually identified, however
tion from the State Art Collections of Dresden, German Democratic - that have been attributed to Strozzi include close-up studies of heads
Republic), New York, 1978, Cat. No. 522. Cf. also Mortari, 103. (ibid., figs. 114, 324, 392) and only one that can be considered a fully
2 Cf. ibid., figs. 101, 107, 112, 205-08. presented portrait (ibid., fig. 393).

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250 THE ART BULLETIN JUNE 1981 VOLUME LXIII NUMBER 2

at. ;* - .

o,.

..,.

? ?* -, , .

~" ?1

1 Bernardo Strozzi,
Portrait of a Female
Musician. Dresden,
Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen

but Flora meretrice, patroness of courtesans, and her
musical attributes confirm an invitation to love.4 We note
that there are two instruments in the picture, her own
vi ;la da gamba and the violin on the table in the lower left
corner. As in so many paintings of women and music -
from Titian to Vermeer - the second instrument seems to
be awaiting the arrival of its player. The music depicted in
the song book above the violin, while not entirely legible,
is indeed a duet: its performance requires the participation
of another. Although in essential respects a reprise of

4On this theme and its changing implications, see Julius S. Held, "Flora, Venice, 1660, 595 [ed. Pallucchini, fig. 8] - or of the nourishing wealth of
Goddess and Courtesan," in De Artibus Opuscula XL: Essays in Honor Caritas, or, with different moral implications, as a lingering mark of the
of Erwin Panofsky, New York, 1961, 201-218. penitent Magdalen's past. The calculated display of our subject's bosom,
The bared breast might be taken as a sign of allegorical intent - as of the coyness of the lace, the clearly indicative role of the plunging blue
the personification of Musica (cf., e.g., Marco Boschini's illustration of sash, seem to bespeak neither allegory nor repentance. In his own work,
Antonio Triva's L'Armonia col Disegno in La carta del navegar pitoresco, Strozzi himself bared the female breast for allegorical purposes (Mortari,

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 THE IDENTITY OF A PORTRAIT BY STROZZI 251

Strozzi's basic Saint Cecilia composition, the Dresden pic-

ture, precluding sanctity by its extreme decolletage,
further varies its model in small but significant ways. Like
the sitter herself, her musical attributes are redirected more
pointedly toward the observer. Whereas the violin serves
as a framing device in the Genoa Saint Cecilia, a unit of
closure, a barrier between subject and viewer, that instru-
ment implicitly breaks through the picture plane in the
4t
Dresden design, offering itself to the beholder - un-
derscoring the gesture of the female musician.
Who, then, is this young lady, so conspicuously dis-
5

playing her musical talents and herself, who seems bla-

tantly to affirm the traditional association of music and sex
that could so compromise the social standing of the art?6
We suggest that she is Barbara Strozzi - the similarity to
the name of the painter being purely coincidental. A singer
and composer in mid-seicento Venice, her biography in its
Venetian context provides the main support for the iden-
tification of her portrait.7

recognition. Another Forabosco sitter (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches

Museum), dressed in similar costume, with an even more elaborate bou-
quet in her hair, is usually known as a "Venetian Lady" (ibid., Cat. No.
2 106; Homan Potterton, Venetian Seventeenth Century Painting,S
Bernardo exh.
Galleria Comunale cat., London, 1979, fig. 6). And yet, despite the more modest closure of
her costume, the greater prominence of her floral arrangement - set in
calculated juxtaposition to her frontal mask - suggests that she is as
likely cortigiana as dama; the direct and intimate confrontation she offers
the viewer is quite different from the social reserve of more obviously no-
figs. 337, 341 [Scultura], 413 [Pittura, Scultura, Architettura], 408
ble women in Forabosco's work (cf., e.g., La pittura del Seicento, Cat.
[Minerva], and, most powerfully, 285, 288, 289 [Vecchia allo specchio]) No. 109).
or, naturally and more functionally, for figures of Carith (ibid., figs. 37, Further on the Venetian courtesan: Arturo Graf, Attraverso il
42, 43, 66, 67). Saint Cecilia, needless to say, is never depicted by him inCinquecento, Turin, 1883, 215-366 ("Una cortigiana fra mille: Veronica
such disarray. Franco"); Pompeo G. Molmento, La storia di Venezia nella vita privata,
With regard to the significance of the bared breast in Renaissance por- 7th ed., Bergamo, 1927-29, 1i, 257-59; and Rita Casagrande, Le cortigiane
traiture - where it can indeed carry a variety of meanings - Jaynie An-veneziane del Cinquecento, Milan, 1968. Cf. also the observations of
derson has argued that one of the best known examples, Giorgione'sCharles Hope, "Problems of Interpretation in Titian's Erotic Paintings,"
Laura, represents not a Venetian noblewoman - and not an allegory of
in Tiziano e Venezia, 111-24.
marriage - but a Venetian courtesan: "A sixteenth century patrician
5 On the implications of this pictorial structure, see David Rosand, "Art
woman would scarcely have chosen to be represented provocatively History and Criticism: The Past as Present," New Literary History, v,
opening her dress. When courtesans entered the profession they usually1973-74, 442, further elaborated in "Ermeneutica amorosa: Observations
assumed a different name, and according to the sixteenth century
on the Interpretation of Titian's Venuses," in Tiziano e Venezia, 375-81.
catalogues of courtesans, the most popular choice was Laura and
6 Cf. Pietro Aretino's declaration (published in his Primo libro de le let-
Lauretta. The laurel wreath behind Laura appears to be a pointed
tere of 1538) that "i suoni, i canti e le lettere che sanno le femmine [sono]
reference to her profession, as pointed as the flowers held by Titian's
Flora" ("The Giorgionesque Portrait: From Likeness to Allegory," in le chiavi che aprono le porte della pudicizia loro," and - as if confirming
Giorgione: Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studio per il 5' Cen- this judgment - Pietro Bembo's response to his daughter's request to
learn to play an instrument (December 10, 1541): "Quanto alla gratia che
tenario della Nascita, Castelfranco Veneto, 1979, 156). But cf. the recent
discussion by Stanley Chojnacki, "La posizione della donna a Venezia nel tu mi richiedi, che io sia contento che tu impari di sonar di monacordia, ti
Cinquecento," in Tiziano e Venezia, Convegno Internazionale di Studi, fo intender quello che tu forse per la tua troppa tenera eta non puoi
Venezia, 1976, Vicenza, 1980, 67, who quotes the observation of the earlysapere: che il sonare e cosa da donna vana et leggera. Et io vorrei che tu
17th-century Scottish traveller Fynes Moryson that the women of Venicefossi la piu gentile e la pitu casta et pudica donna che viva ... e contentati
"shew their naked necks and breasts, and likewise their dugges." Noting nell'essercitio delle lettere et del cucire...." Both statements are quoted in
Alfred Einstein, The Italian Madrigal, Princeton, 1949, i, 94f; cf. also
the increasingly daring mode of the later 16th century, Chojnacki stresses
174-187.
the special role of fashion as a means of social assertion.
The floral coiffure is not unique in 17th-century Venetian portraiture, 7 The basic biographical reconstruction of this personality and
but where it does appear similar questions of identity may be raised. Ge-of her art will be found in Rosand, 241-281. Insofar as we are h
rolamo Forabosco's portrait of a woman in the Uffizi is generallycerned with identifying this musician's portrait and with establi
recognized as the image of a courtesan (La pittura del Seicento a Venezia,particular social and intellectual ambience, we have drawn f
exh. cat., Venice, 1959, Cat. No. 108); indeed the seductive plunge of hermaterials first published in that article, feeling that our argument h
shawl, along with the protectively placed fan, seems to insist on such quired the fullest presentation and support.

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252 THE ART BULLETIN JUNE 1981 VOLUME LXIII NUMBER 2

Born in 1619, Barbara was probably the illegitimate courses, and awarding prizes to the best; she also prov
daughter of the renowned poet Giulio Strozzi, who, in his the muscial interludes, singing for the assembled sig
final will of 1650 named as his heir "Barbara di Santa accademici. In addition, on at least one occasion she r
Sofia mia figliuola elettiva, e per6 chiamata comunemente both sides of an argument written by two of the academ
la Strozzi."8 Growing up in the house of Giulio, Barbara most illustrious members, Gian Francesco Loredan a
was fully encouraged to develop her musical talents in a
Matteo Dandolo. The subject of this debate, whether t
most professional way, as a singer and then as a composer;or song be the more potent weapon in love, seems to
and her presence in that household afforded her the op- been conceived expressly for Barbara.12
portunity to meet and participate in Venetian musical andEvidently among the more famous events was a meetin
literary society. By 1634 Giulio was arranging informal held in 1637, at which Barbara distributed different
sessions at his home that featured performances by his flowers to each of the academicians, who then had to dis-
"figliuola elettiva," whose voice was applauded bycourse upon what fortune his particular flower would
letterati and musicians.9 In 1637 he institutionalized these bring in love. In describing her action, the anonymous
performances with the creation of an academy, the Ac- author of the Veglie compared Barbara to a personification
cademia degli Unisoni, designed, at least in part, to exhibit of Primavera; her grace in distributing the flowers and the
Barbara's talents to a still wider audience and, in effect, to beauty of her voice inspired one of the Unisoni to compose
enlarge the scope of her social function.1o a sonnet in honor of "questa Venere."'13 Crowned
From a publication of 1638, Le Veglie de' Signori Primavera and Venus, Barbara claimed the role of Flora by
Unisoni, which is in fact dedicated to Barbara, we learn her own initiative and enjoyed that reputation. She also
something about this academy's gatherings and about her suffered the implications of such an identity.
special role in them." The meetings consisted of dis- Publicly acknowledged as the hostess and inspiration of
courses by the various members, rhetorical exercises on the Accademia degli Unisoni, Barbara was socially
typical debating topics, with love as the dominant theme, vulnerable. Viewed by some contemporaries as morally
and these presentations were liberally interspersed with equivocal, her position readily evoked that association be-
music. Barbara Strozzi functioned as mistress of tween music-making and sexual license so well docu-
ceremonies, suggesting the subjects on which the academi-
mented in cinquecento Venice. A series of stinging satires
cians were to test their forensic ingenuity, judging the dis-
describing meetings of the Unisoni that managed to im-

8 Venice, Archivio di Stato, "Notarile, Testamenti; Notaio Claudio
Paulini," b. 799, No. 269, January 1, 1650: "publicato in morte il 31
marzo 1652." On the earlier wills of Giulio Strozzi and their relevance to
the identity of Barbara, see Rosand, 242.
9 One of these musicians, Nicolo Fontei, was inspired to compose two
volumes of songs for her, a project most probably encouraged by Giulio,
who supplied most of the texts himself. The dedication of the first
volume of Fontei's Bizzarrie poetiche (Venice, 1635) reads: "A V. S. ...
consacro queste armonie, uscitemi dalla penna per compiacerne prin-
cipalmente la gentilissima, e virtuosissima donzella la Signora Barbara.
"Elle diede a me occasion di comporle, e a V. S. di sentirle alcuna volta
honorar di quella Gratia, ch' nata per agguagliarsi all'altre Gratie, e
quasi decima sorella per avanzarsi con l'eta sopra il choro dell'altre Muse.
"I1 Signor Giulio Strozzi, chi porge campo franco a si degni ga-
reggiamenti, mi somministro l'armi delle parole."
In the dedication of Book Two (1636) Fontei declares: "Questi ar-
moniosi concenti, detti Bizzarrie Poetiche [furono] animati in gran parte
della penna gentile del Sig. Giulio Strozzi per uso della di lui vir-
tuosissima cantatrice."
printed twice in the same year and by the same publisher as the Veglie,
Sarzina: in La Contesa del canto e delle lagrime. Discorsi academici
Recitati dalla Sig. Barbara Strozzi nell'academia de gli Unisoni, Venice
1638, and Gian Francesco Loredan, Bizzarrie academiche, Venice, 1638
182ff. For further discussion of the text itself and its significance, see Ro
sand, 278-280.
13 Veglia prima, 67: "Fui poscia dalla Sig. Barbara proposto il soggetto
che occupar dovea l'eloquenza di questi Virtuosi, nella futura Veglia. Ci
si fece, con l'occasione di dispensare a ciascuno di quelli, c'haveano
favellato un fiore, sopra di cui s'obligavano a discorrere, qual fortuna
secondo le proprieta di quello, possa pronosticarsi in amore. Nel dis
tribuire questi fiori, rappresento al vivo la Sig. Barbara quella Primavera,
la quale raffigura nel sembiante. La gratia, di cui fece pompa in questa at
tione; ha eccitato al canto uno de' piul famosi cigni dell'Hadria, che amico
delle Muse, ha honorata questa Venere, col sonetto, che qui nel fine s
aggiunto.
"Per La Sig. Barbara Strozzi, mentre dispensava Fiori nell'Accademia
de gli Unisoni
Sonetto d'incerto Autore

10 The founding of academies came naturally to Strozzi. He had already Questa (Amanti) e una
established one in Rome, the Ordinati (1608), and another in Venice, the Musa; eccol'espresso;
Dubbiosi. See Francesco Saverio Quadrio, Storia e ragione d'ogni poesia, Nel dolce suo canzoneggiar canora;
Bologna, 1739, vII, 8, and Maylander, II, 224f., and Iv, 140. Ma nel bel volto ha un'aureo lume impresso:
E pur la Musa il solo plettro indora.
11 Barbara's full name appears in print for the first time in the Veglia
Fors'ella e un'Alba; e si ha dal fatto stesso,
prima de'Signori academici Unisoni havuta in Venetia in casa del Signor
Mentre ' i raggi del bel la man infiora;
Giulio Strozzi. Alla molto Illustre Signora la Sig. Barbara Strozzi, Venice,
Ma non va l'alba ad illustrar Permesso
1638. Each of the three Veglie contained in the volume carries its own title
Ne le stanze d'Apollo ama l'Aurora.
page and dedication to Barbara Strozzi. It is chiefly through these
Musa ella e si, c'ha in compagnia gl'amori;
publications that we know about the Unisoni: cf. Emmanuele Antonio
E se rubbo la rosa al verde stelo,
Cicogna, Delle iscrizioni veneziane, Venice, 1824-1853, v, 278f. and 663;
Anco le Muse incoronano i fiori
Maylander, v, 396f.; Rosand, 244f. and passim.
Alba ella e si, ch'apre il notturno velo,
12 Although not mentioned in the Veglie, the text of this debate was E se canta tal'hora giocosi ardori,
Chi sa, che l'Alba ancor non canti in Cielo?"

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 THE IDENTITY OF A PORTRAIT BY STROZZI 253

pune every aspect of the academy did not spare the virtueher concentration on themes of love, and the often per-
of its hostess; indeed, the anonymous author found ready sonalized affect of this singer's music, it is not at all incon-
material in Barbara's academic participation.14 Followingceivable that she may, indeed, have been a courtzr.an,
an account of the distribution of flowers to the accademici, highly skilled in the art of love as well as music.18
he wryly observes, "It is a fine thing to distribute the About the character of the young lady in Bernardo
flowers after having yielded the fruit."'i Or, regarding her Strozzi's painting, however, there can be little doubt.
chastity, he comments, "to claim and to be [chaste] are two Whatever her relation to the Muses, her attire marks her as
different things; all the same, I too consider her extremely a devotee of the goddess of love, and the flowers in her
chaste, since, being a woman, and one with a liberal up- hair invoke that other compromised deity, Flora meretrice
bringing, she could pass the time with some lover, yet she- and recall the role played by Barbara Strozzi at the ses-
nevertheless lavishes all her affection on a castrato." And sions of the Accademia degli Unisoni. According to our
that relationship is then turned into the explanation for hypothesis, the picture would represent Barbara - less
her never having become pregnant.'6 personification than embodiment of Musica - at about the
The exact moral character of Barbara Strozzi may well age of twenty, with due acknowledgement of her volup-
be safe beyond the reach of controlled historical tuous maturity.'9 Although the painting has generally
reconstruction, but the slanderous remarks of these been dated about 1635, there seems to be little real
anonymous satires (even if written in jest) do at least attest evidence, stylistic or documentary, to support such dating.
to the continuing relevance of the traditional, if general, Indeed, there is good reason to date the canvas after 1635,
association of courtesans and music-making.'7 And Bar- the year Bernardo Strozzi signed and dated another portrait,
bara's own music, which she herself performed, would that of Barbara's father (Fig. 3).20 Moreover, if we assume
seem further to confirm that association. In view of her that the floral reference in the image is explicitly to Barbara's
choice of texts, the subject matter of her cantatas and arias, (in)famous distribution of flowers to the accademici degli

14 "Satire, et altre raccolte per l'Academia de gl'Unisoni in casa di Giulio 19 Like her pose, Barbara's instruments in the Dresden portrait derive
Strozzi" (Venice, Biblioteca Marciana: cl. x, cod. 115 [=7193]). Some from Bernardo Strozzi's previous Saint Cecilia compositions and must be
seventy-five folios, the manuscript consists of eight rather biting satires viewed as general attributes rather than actual records of this musician's
in the form of dialogues and letters - the final two, in their own defense, practice - for in performance she most likely accompanied herself on a
purportedly signed by Giulio and Barbara Strozzi. For a fuller descrip- lute or theorbo (see Rosand, 277).
tion and analysis of the contents of the "Satire," see Rosand, 249-252. As a final note on music's pictorial association with sensual pleasure we
15i "Bella cosa donare i fiori dopo aver dispensati i frutti" ("Satire," fol.
may adduce the composition that Marco Boschini would have com-
44r). missioned of the little-known painter Stefano Pauluzzi for his ideal
gallery of modern art:
16 II1 professare e l'essere sono termini differenti, tuttavia io anco la vedo
castissima, mentre potendo e come femina, e come educata in liberta El Pauluzzi, che in la bona strada
passarvi il tempo con qualche amore ella nondimeno impiega tutte le sue Calca el vero sentier dela Pitura,
affettioni in un castrato" (ibid., fol. 12v).
Col concorer al par dela Natura,
"Che ringratii pura la moda, overo l'infecondita di castrati?" (ibid., fol.
Un capricio el fara, che assae me agrada.
25r).
Vorave veder Flora, col Dileto,
17 For a brief discussion of some of the Venetian courtesans who were In streti abrazzamenti virtuosi,
particularly well-known for their musical abilities, see Casagrande (as in Sich6 in amor tra lori corisposi,
note 4), 189 and 199. Cf. also the description of the funeral of the famous I se vedesse con cortese afeto.
courtesan-musician Lucia Trevisana in Marino Sanuto, I Diarii, ed. Scrive: Flora gioisse mazormente,
Rinaldo Fulin et al., xix, Venice, 1887, col. 138: "[A di 16 Ottobre 1514] Tuta piena de genio virtuoso;
In questa matina, fo sepulta a Santa Caterina Lucia Trevixan, qual can- Massime quando apresso al so moroso,
tava per excellentia. Era dona di tempo tuta cortesana, e molto nominata Che xe'l Dileto, la se vede arente.
apresso musici, dove a caxa sua si riduceva tutte le virtu. Et morite eri di
note, et ozi 8 zorni si farh per li musici una solenne messa a Santa Described in La carta del navegar pitoresco (ed. Pallucchini, 635), this design
Caterina, funebre, et altri officii per l'anima sua." Cf. also Giacomo is realized in Boschini's own engraving (ibid., fig. 26) of ardent Flora em-
Franco, Habiti d'huomeni et donne venetiane ..., Venice, 1614, fol. 46 bracing a quite voluptuous Diletto, whose only attributes are her own
("Abito delle cortegiane prencipale"), an illustration based on a design by nude body and the musical instruments she has laid aside to reciprocate
Palma il Giovane and depicting one of those celebrated Venetian cour- that affection.
tesans seated at the keyboard. 20 Mortari, 143. The portrait is inscribed "Julij Strozzij effigies/ a
18 Young singers were doubly celebrated by many patrons in these early Presbytero Bernardo/ Strozzio Picta an9/ 1635." Noting that the inscrip-
years of public opera: there is a certain Cice who "canta in maniera che tion was unusual in Strozzi's oeuvre for its script, and that it was applied
gustera ... et anco e di quelle che si pol dormire seco col lume, et ha un bel on already dry paint, Hugh Macandrew questioned its authenticity and
modo di trattare," or we might cite "il raguaglio di due, una che e Zitella, reliability; he attributed the picture instead to Simon Vouet ("Vouet's
ma non Zitella Zitella, e l'altra Puttana ma non Puttana Puttana, suona da Portrait of Giulio Strozzi and Its Pendant by Tinelli of Nicolo Crasso,"
se, canta bene, e non e cattiva." For these, as well as for the moreBurlington Magazine, cix, 1967, 266-271) - but that attribution was re-
celebrated Anna Maria Sardelli, see Lorenzo Bianconi and Thomas jected by Anthony Blunt, Art and Architecture in France, 1500 to 1700,
Walker, "Dalla Finta pazza alla Veremonda: Storie di febiarmonici," 2nd ed., Middlesex-Baltimore-Victoria, 1970, 425, n. 56.
Rivista italiana di musicologia, x, 1975, 440-42.

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254 THE ART BULLETIN JUNE 1981 VOLUME LXIII NUMBER 2

ble pedigree, having entered the Saxon galleries in the

eighteenth century directly from the vast collection of the
Casa Sagredo in Venice; the agent in the transaction was
Francesco Algarotti. In 1743, when the Sagredo collection
r,
was being prepared for sale, Algarotti acquired for
Augustus III of Poland two pictures by Bernardo Strozzi,
our female musician and a David with the head of Goliath.
These he described with enthusiastic satisfaction in a letter
to Mariette of February 13, 1751:

6?~?? Due quadri del Prete Genovese, ossia Bernardo Strozzi

con figure di grandezza naturale sino al ginocchio.
Nell'uno si vede effigiata una sonatrice in atto di toc-
~f~I~14
care, non mi ricordo, se il liuto, o altro simile strumento;
5. ;?

e nell'altro, Davidde, che ha nell'una mano la spada, e a

lato la testa di Golia. In queste due pitture ben risalta
quella maestria nel maneggiare i colori: parte, in cui, dice
il Baldinucci, essere stato quell'Artefice sin da'suoi
primi anni eccellente. ...23

In fact, as we know from an earlier letter, Algarotti had

hoped to acquire a third painting by Strozzi for the gallery
3 Bernardo Strozzi, Portrait of Giulio Strozzi. Oxford, of Augustus. Reporting to the king's minister, Count
Ashmolean Museum
Briihl, in a letter of June 29, 1743 - a draft, in effect, that
would later serve for the published letter to Mariette -
Algarotti describes the pictures he was hoping to have
from the Sagredo collection. Among them were
Unisoni, then we have a definite terminus post quem of
1637.21 Trois Tableaux du Prete Genovese les plus beaux,
Thus far, our arguments for the identification of the qu'on puisse avoir peut-etre de ce Peintre. L'un est une
female musician as Barbara Strozzi rest on what are at best demifigure admirable d'une femme qui tient un Instru-
plausible analogies between the character of the painted ment de musique a la main, I'autre plus admirable en-
personage and that of the historical woman - as well as on core est la demifigure de David avec la t&te de Goliat. ...
the assumption that the painting was executed in Venice Le troisieme est un portrait sur du bois aussi beau que
toward 1640 or possibly even later.22 Further evidence, les Wandik les plus beaux. On y lit cette Inscription:
however, comes from the painting's provenance. The Julii Strozzii effigies a Presbytero Bernardo Strozzio
Dresden picture in fact boasts a well-documented and no- picta anno 1635.24

21 On the basis of presumed recollections of Strozzi's earlier Genoese
manner, particularly in the deep-toned ground, Victor Lasareff proposed
to date the female musician early in the painter's Venetian period
("Beitrage zu Bernardo Strozzi," Miinchner Jahrbuch der bildenden
Kunst, vi, 1929, 29), and in this he has been followed by Anna Maria
Matteucci ("L'attivita veneziana di Bernardo Strozzi," Arte veneta, ix,
1955, 144) and Mortari (p. 103). But Strozzi never abandoned the
chiaroscuro base, especially in his portraits and particularly when he was
testing his chromatic sensibilities and exploring the possibilities of lush
Venetian colorito. And, as Mortari herself seems to recognize, the
Dresden portrait stands out among Strozzi's works for the notably
meditated character of its conception and its execution. Her comment on
the portrait of Giulio Strozzi - which she did not realize was originally
on panel - suggests how unsure is the foundation of our chronology:
"Se non fosse per la data - una delle pochissime che lo Strozzi appose ai
suoi quadri - questo ritratto potrebbe apparire fra le opere del periodo
genovese, tanto e ancora vicino ai ritratti eseguiti in patria, il che ci con-
ferma quanto sia arduo stabilire una cronologia nelle opere del maestro."
And Matteucci, too, is forced to admit that although the portraits "poco
ci aiutano per la cronologia del Cappuccino, ci mostrano tuttavia come,
anche in questo campo, non vi sia frattura fra periodo genovese e periodo
veneziano. I ritratti di Bernardo rimarranno infatti fedelissimi agli
schemi inaugurati in patria ..." ("L'attivita veneziana," 151).
22 But obviously by 1644, when the painter died (August 2).
23 Opere del Conte Algarotti, vi, Livorno, 1765, 15. The letter was then
quoted by Carlo Giuseppe Ratti in his edition of Raffaello Soprani, Vite
de' pittori, scultori, ed architetti genovesi, i, Genoa, 1768, 195, note
(Soprani's Vite were first published in 1674). Strozzi's David is still in
Dresden (Mortari, 102f., fig. 377). On Algarotti's activities, see Francis
Haskell, Patrons and Painters, A Study in the Relations between Italian
Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque, London, 1963, 347-360.
24 The letter was published by Hans Posse, "Die Briefe des Grafen Fran-
cesco Algarotti an den Sachsischen Hof und seine Bilderkaufe fUr die
Dresdner Gemlildegalerie, 1743-1747," Jahrbuch der preussischen
Kunstsammlungen, LII, 1931, Beiheft, 43f. The portrait of Giulio Strozzi
never went to the collection of August III. By the end of the 18th century,
as Macandrew showed (as in note 20, 269), it was in the collection of
Graf Friedrich Moritz von Brabeck of Hildesheim; from there it passed to
Graf Andreas von Stolberg. Although now on canvas, the picture was on
panel when Algarotti knew it, and was so described in the von Stolberg
sale of 1859; when exhibited in Berlin in 1909 it was still on wood, "on
poplar," to be more precise (ibid., n. 13).

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 THE IDENTITY OF A PORTRAIT BY STROZZI 255

Although the Sagredo collection was enormous - "cette

biography published by Raffaello Soprani in 1674, thirty
grande mer; puisqu'il faut appeller ainsi Je crois cette
years after the painter's death.28 Born in 1581, Strozzi es-
Collection," writes Algarotti - the fact that the portrait of
tablished himself as an accomplished artist at an early age;
Giulio Strozzi was hanging in it along with the image at weseventeen he entered the Capuchin monastery of S. Bar-
would identify as Barbara's is of some consequence. The naba in Genoa. Presumably about 1610 he obtained per-
initial core of the collection, already celebrated by mission to leave the cloister temporarily - "non pii Frate,
Giustiniano Martinioni in 1663, had been assembled or ma Prete" - in order to support his widowed mother and
commissioned by Nicol6 Sagredo (1606-1676), younger sister. With the death of his mother in 1630, his
Procuratore di S. Marco and, in the last year of his life, sister by then married, Strozzi was formally obligated to
Doge of Venice.25 The family palace, on the Grand Canal, return to the Order and re-enter the monastery. And it is
is located at Campo Sta. Sofia; Nicol6 Sagredo, in other at this juncture in his life that we encounter difficulties of
words, was a neighbor of Giulio Strozzi - and of interpretation
his and reconstruction. Soprani's narrative of
"figliuola elettiva," Barbara "di Santa Sofia."26 Still morethe events assumes a particularly dramatic, even
to the point, however, Sagredo was a patron of Barbara's. somewhat theatrical, tone. According to the biographer,
To him she dedicated her Opus 7, published in 1659, and Strozzi was extremely reluctant to return to the Capuchins
the wording of that dedication implies that his patronage and, procrastinating with excuses of work to be finished
took the form of active financial support. Referringand to of pretended ill health, he appealed to Rome. The
him as her guardian deity ("mio Dio Tutelare"), Barbara painter argued that his advanced age and state of health
cites as evidence of Sagredo's generous contribution to made compliance with the austere discipline of the Order a
music his continuing support of her own modest life, particular hardship. Although sympathetic, the pope did
which has been so "favored and protected with the not in fact intercede on his behalf. Again, Strozzi was or-
profuse benevolence of Your Excellency.'"27 dered by the Capuchins to return; again, he took evasive
If our hypothesis is correct, then, and the Dresden action. This time he sought to transfer to another order,
painting is indeed a portrait of Barbara Strozzi, we may be the Augustinian Canons at S. Teodoro, but the Capuchins
sure that when Nicolo Sagredo acquired the picture - ifcountered
he that he could make such a transfer only with the
did not actually commission it - he well knew the identity consent of the full chapter. Without further recourse -
of its subject. still according to Soprani's account - the fugitive monk
was imprisoned in his own monastery, where he remained
Further support of our identification of this female for three years. Finally, after initial protests and attempts
musician is offered by the career of the painter himself. byIn- family and friends to liberate him by force, Strozzi
deed, through the personalities implicated in our argument feigned repentance. Allowed to visit his sister, he eluded
his accompanying guardian, shaved his beard, shed his
we are, in turn, able to clarify certain events in that career.
Bernardo Strozzi, known in his native Genoa as "il Cap- monastic garb, and, dressed as a priest, fled by a secret
puccino" and as "il Prete Genovese" in Venice andstaircase. Turning up in Venice, Strozzi there found
beyond, led a fairly colorful life; its degree of intensity,
powerful protectors ("Protettori potenti") who guaranteed
however, depends in part upon how one interprets the his safety and freedom.29
biographical sources and documents. This, then, is the basic account we have of the crisis in
Our basic, and most problematical, source is theBernardo Strozzi's life, the presumed reason for his move

25 Martinioni's observations on the Sagredo collection appear in his three edi- pictures by Bernardo Strozzi cited in Algarotti's letter of June 29,
tion of Francesco Sansovino, Venetia, citta~ nobilissima et singolare, 1743, and a fourth, the portrait of Nicolo Crasso by Tiberio Tinelli, are
Venice, 1663, 375. Cf. also Simona Savini Branca, II collezionismo not to be found in either of these stime. Evidently, they had been put
veneziano nel 600, Padua, 1965, 275, and Haskell, 263-67. aside for Algarotti, pending the return to Venice of Gherardo Sagredo's
On Nicolo Sagredo himself, see Andrea da Mosto, I dogi di Venezia, widow; she, however, seems to have given the agent some difficulty, in-
Florence, 1977, 406-413, 583f. In his own final testament of August 12, sisting that he be prepared to buy at least one full room of pictures.
1676, the doge left certain paintings to specific friends and relatives - in- Algarotti, writing to Count Brtihl, expresses the hope that he can per-
cluding works attributed to Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Poussin, and suade her to be more reasonable (Posse, as in note 24, 45) - and the two
Borgognone - whereas the bulk of the collection went to his brothers paintings by Strozzi in Dresden attest to his partial success.
and, after them, to his nephews (Venice, Archivio di Stato, "Testamenti," 26 Giulio's father, Roberto, had left funds for the construction of a chapel
b. 1167, No. 250). The collection passed to Zaccaria Sagredo (1653-1729) in the church of Sta. Sofia, where he may indeed have been buried;
and then to Gherardo, his nephew. Following the latter's death in 1738, Barbara was baptized in the same church. See Rosand, 241-43.
preparations were made for its dispersal. An inventory was drawn up in
that year (Venice, Biblioteca Correr, P. D. C2193/Iv), and then, in 1743, 27 Diporto di Euterpe overo cantate & ariette a voce sola, Venice, 1659,
two separate evaluations of the paintings were commissioned of the dedication: "I miei poveri Lari favoriti e protetti con profuse gratie dall'
E.V .
leading artists of the day, Piazzetta and Tiepolo (Biblioteca Correr, P.D.
C2913/IV, Nos. 11, 12 - cf. Mario Brunetti, "Un eccezionale collegio 28 Soprani (as in note 23), I, 184-196.
peritale: Piazzetta, Tiepolo, Longhi," Arte veneta, v, 1951, 158-160). The 29 Ibid. 187f., 191-94.

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256 THE ART BULLETIN JUNE 1981 VOLUME LXIII NUMBER 2
to Venice. Essentially repeated by Filippo Baldinucci,30 the
story was challenged in the eighteenth century by Carlo
Giuseppe Ratti in his edition of Soprani's Vite de' pittori,
scultori, ed architetti genovesi. In a footnote to this
narrative Ratti declared it unlikely that Strozzi could have
so abandoned the Capuchins without some special conces-
sion from Rome. And modern scholars have continued to
debate the tone as well as the facts of Soprani's romantic
version of these events.31
Despite the polemics, however, archival research has
not seriously undermined Soprani's account. The docu-
ments published by the historian of the Genoese
Capuchins, Padre Francesco Zaverio, although modifying
it in certain details, tend rather to confirm its general
outline.32 Bernardo Strozzi, according to his own
testimony, lived as a lay cleric with his mother for a period
of twenty years. The problem with his sister seems to have
been not her unmarried state but rather her poverty and
the special difficulty of having a blind child. Citing these
conditions as well as his own age and health, the painter
appealed to the Sacred Congregation for Consultation of
Regulars in Rome to be allowed to transfer to the
Augustinian Canons; permission was granted, provided
that the Capuchins agreed and the Augustinians were
disposed to accept him. On March 14, 1630, he was granted
two months' time - he had requested three - to arrange
for his change of habit. Not until May 12, however, did he
petition the Capuchins, who were not opposed; on June 16
he wrote to the visitor of the Augustinians, Don Andrea
Fossa. Nine days later Fossa responded that, although
Strozzi's petition was favorably received, it would be
necessary to submit it to the full chapter of the Order.
This consumed still more time, and Strozzi's deadline had
already expired. On August 25 a warrant was issued for
the delinquent monk's arrest; on September 13 Strozzi ap-
pealed 33 and, a fortnight later, was granted an additional
month of grace.34 Beyond that date, September 28, 1630,
we have no further documentation concerning the
religious fate of Bernardo Strozzi in Genoa. He evidently
left the Capuchins but did not enter a different order; the
30o Notizie de' professori del disegno da Cimabue in qua (1681-1728), in
his Opere, xi, Milan, 1812, 481-86.
31 Soprani (as in note 23), i, 194, note (a): "Non e credibile, che lo Strozzi
s'appartasse allora da' Cappuccini senza special concessione ottenutagli
per Breve Apostolico da' Parenti, o dagli Amici. II Lettore ci6 supponga
benche il Soprani non ne faccia molto. E forse il Breve non era ancora
notificato a que' Religiosi; perci6 egli si opponevano al Soggetto." Cf.
Orlando Grosso, "Note ed appunti su Bernardo Strozzi," Rassegna d'arte
antica e moderna, Ix, 1922, 155-163, and Giuseppe Fiocco, "Bernardo
Strozzi a Venezia," Dedalo, 1II, 1922-23, 646-665.
32 P. Francesco Zaverio, I Cappuccini genovesi, note biografiche, I,
Genoa, 1912, 288-297.
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signature on his portrait of Giulio Strozzi of 1635 indicates
that he did indeed continue his life in Venice as a secular
priest, "il Prete Genovese." On November 26 of the same
year he acquired the title of Monsignore.3S
Did Bernardo Strozzi pass three years in prison - or is
that story the invention of Soprani's pen? We still cannot
be sure. Padre Zaverio himself, without any further
documentary evidence, simply accepted the account.
Modern art historians, on the other hand, have sought -
perhaps too deliberately - to discredit it, to de-romanticize
the old biography. Giuseppe Fiocco, in polemic with
Orlando Grosso, argued the impossibility of the imprison-
ment by adducing Strozzi's portrait of Doge Francesco
Erizzo, elected in 1631, as proof of the painter's presence
in Venice by that year.36 But there is no reason to assume
that Strozzi painted the portrait in the year of Erizzo's ac-
cession. The offical commission of the ducal portrait,
furthermore, was not likely to have gone to a recently
arrived forestiero. Rather, the task would have fallen to
the leading Venetian master, Domenico Tintoretto, who
had succeeded to his father's position as official painter in
the Ducal Palace; and just such a portrait is in fact cited by
Ridolfi.37 (We might even argue that Strozzi's portrayal of
Erizzo, its official status suggested by the number of ex-
tant versions, should be dated after Domenico Tintoretto's
death in 1635.) In other words, we really cannot establish
the Genoese painter's presence in Venice before 1635, the
date on his portrait of Giulio Strozzi.
Returning to Soprani's statement that in Venice the es-
caped Capuchin found "Protettori potenti," we may ask
who they might have been. For we can indeed identify the
precise link between Genoa and Venice: in the person of
Andrea Fossa, the visitor of the Augustinian monastery of
S. Teodoro in Genoa, to whom Bernardo Strozzi had writ-
ten directly, and who responded encouragingly and
enthusiastically to the painter, admitting to being
"benissimo informato della sua virti." Fossa, who would
become abbot general of the Order, was an impressive
figure, theologian to the cardinal of Sta. Cecilia and con-
33This capiatur was published, without exact archival indication, by
Grosso, "Note ed appunti," 158. Cf. also Zaverio, I Cappuccini, 295.
34 Ibid., 296.
35 Fiocco, (as in note 31), 646, 665.
36 "Me ne dispiace," Fiocco begins his article, "per le anime romantiche e
me ne rallegro per le timorate: il pittore Bernardo Strozzi, il monaco
bollente, fuggito dalla patria Genova a Venezia, terra di liberta, per but-
tarvi alle ortiche le vesti di Cappuccino e di Prete, mori Monsignore, in
pace con dio e con la Chiesa!" For the portraits of Erizzo, see Mortari,
figs. 312 and 314, also 315.
37 A list of doges portrayed by Domenico, from Pasquale Cicogna to
Francesco Erizzo, is offered by Carlo Ridolfi, Le maraviglie dell'arte
(1648), ed. Detlev von Hadeln, Berlin, 1914-1924, 11, 260.
 THE IDENTITY OF A PORTRAIT BY STROZZI 257

sultant to the Holy Office in Genoa. A learned as well as and among the most active contributors to this develop-
powerful man, who had obtained his degrees at the Uni- ment was Giulio Strozzi.41 Not only was he a formative
versity of Padua in theology, philosophy, and canon law, figure in the shaping of the new dramma per musica, he
he was a writer and friend of poets. He was also a member was also, we recall, the founder of the Accademia degli
of the Accademia degli Incogniti in Venice.38 Unisoni. This group seems to have functioned as a musical
Founded in 1630 by the Venetian patrician Gian Fran- chapter of the Incogniti, whose own meetings do not ap-
cesco Loredan, the Accademia degli Incogniti included the pear to have included music;42 in fact, without exception,
most important intellectual figures in Venice and many the Unisoni were also Incogniti.
from other Italian cities as well - of the 106 members "Il Prete Genovese," if not qualifying for academic
listed in a publication of 1647, ten were Genoese, four ofstatus, seems to have found his "Protettori potenti" as
them in religious orders.39 Representing a major politicalwell as many of his patrons in just these Venetian circles.
Bernardo Strozzi's relationship with some of the most
and intellectual force in mid-seicento Venice, the Incogniti
were united by a basically libertine philosophy deriving in
significant creators of modern opera can be documented
part from the teachings of the Aristotelian Cesarethrough his own paintings. His portrait of Claudio Monte-
Cremonini at the University of Padua. Among the mem-verdi, which served as the basis for the engraving that
bers of the academy were poets, philosophers, historians, would adorn the frontispiece of the funeral eulogies in
and clerics, and their publications included popular novels
honor of the composer, has become our standard image of
and romances, poetry of various kinds, letters, historicalthe great musician - who, moreover, seems to have par-
and religious tracts, academic discourses, and operaticipated in at least some of the activities of the Accademia
librettos. 40 degli Unisoni.43 Bernardo's contact with Monteverdi's
It is indeed the connection of the Incogniti with the most libertine librettist, the Incognito Gian Francesco
musical scene of Venice that most interests us in the con- Busenello, can be traced through the provenance of a
text of our present concern, the Dresden portrait. The painting now in Rotterdam, a triumphant David with the
academy's membership listed nearly every name head of Goliath. An engraving of this composition by
associated with the opera libretto in Venice in the 1640's, Pietro Monaco, published in 1740, bears the following in-
the decade that witnessed the establishment of opera as a scription: "Pittura di Bernardo Strozzi detto il Prete
regular, seasonal occurence, a central part of Venetian life; Genovese posseduta da Ca' Busenello alla Croce." The

38The earliest biography of Fossa (d. 1657) will be found in Le glorie de entertainment to a commercial theatrical undertaking, are fully discusse
gli Incogniti, o vero gli huomini illustri dell'Accademia de' Signori In- in Bianconi and Walker (as in note 18), esp. 410-424, on Giulio Strozzi
cogniti di Venetia, Venice, 1647, 27-30, where he is identified as "Abbate the Teatro Novissimo, and the Incogniti.
Generale de' Canoni Regolari Lateranensi, e nostro Accademico." See
42 The nature of their meetings is revealed in the Discorsi academici de
also Raffaello Soprani, Li scrittori della Liguria, Genoa, 1667, 19, and, on
Signori Incogniti havuti in Venetia nell'academia dell'Illustrissimo Signor
Fossa's rapport with the poet Erytharaeus, Achille Neri, "Alcune rime di G. F. Loredano, Venice, 1635.
Gian Vittorio Rossi," Rassegna bibliografica della letteratura italiana, xi,
1903, 238-244. 43 On Monteverdi's involvement with the Unisoni, see Rosand, 251, n
34. The engraved portrait first appears on the frontispiece of the collec-
39 The list is that of Le glorie de gli Incogniti.
tion of eulogies, Fiori poetici raccolti nel funerale del molto illustre, e
40 A number of Incogniti publications are briefly described in molto
E. A. reverendo signor Claudio Monteverde, published in 1644, the yea
Cicogna, Saggio di bibliografia veneziana, Venice, 1847, 558f., Nos.
after the composer's death (ill. in Einstein, as in note 6, 11, opp. 725). Th
4228-4233. On the academy in general, see Michele Battagia, Delle ac-known painted version of the Monteverdi portrait, in the Ferdi-
best
cademie veneziane, Venice, 1826, 41ff., and Maylander, II, 205. For nandeum,
more Innsbruck (Mortari, fig. 436), has never been totally convinc
specific discussion of the Incogniti within the context of 17th-century
ing; evidently much higher in quality, and making stronger claim to b
libertinism, see Giorgio Spini, Ricerca dei libertini, La teoria dell'im-
Strozzi's original version, is that in the collection of Oskar Strakosch
postura delle religioni nel Seicento italiano, Rome, 1950, 139-186. Vienna, recently published by Mortari ("I1 ritratto di Claudio Monte-
Further bibliography on various aspects of the academy will be found in di Bernardo Strozzi," Arte veneta, xxxI, 1977, 205-07). On panel
verdi
Bianconi and Walker (as in note 18), 418, n. 165; for Barbara Strozzi's
as was the portrait of Giulio Strozzi, the Vienna picture is further dis
relationship to the Incogniti, and especially their motto, Ignoto Deo, see
tinguished by an inscription composed by the poet, which, despite paint
Rosand, 246-49. loss and resulting lacunae, further documents the relationship of the
For more general discussion of the role of academies in Venetian painter to the cultural world of Venice: "BERNARDI EGREGIA/
society, see Gino Benzoni, "Aspetti della cultura urbana nella societa STROZZ[AE] DEPICTV[S]/ AB A[RT]E CLAVDIVS/ VIRIDI
veneta del '5-'600 - Le accademie," Archivio veneto, cvIII, 1977, 87-159,
MONTE RE .../ VOCOR/ SERA CVPIS RE...O0/ SENES SECER-
and idem, Gli affanni della cultura: Intellettuali e potere nell'ItaliaNERE.../
della O MEDEA TVVM/ SPERNERET ARS.../ IVLII STROZ-
Controriforma e Barocca, Milan, 1978, 144-199. ZAE." This is possibly the portrait in the collection of Paolo del Sera
41 On Giulio Strozzi's musical involvement, see Rosand, 243, with cited by Marco Boschini in La carta del navegar pitoresco (p. 397); the
further references. The attendant changes in the conception of opera collector in turn left the picture, along with others, to Leopoldo de'
Medici (Savini Branca, as in note 25, 278).
during this period, its development from an essentially private, academic

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258 THE ART BULLETIN JUNE 1981 VOLUME LXIII NUMBER 2

librettist's palace was indeed at Sta. Croce, and there can
be little doubt that his collection included this picture.44
And, of course, Bernardo Strozzi painted the portrait of
that other shaper of early opera, Giulio Strozzi, Incognito
and Unisono.45 "Il Prete Genovese" was clearly well es-
tablished among these men of culture and influential
figures in Venetian society.46
The Dresden portrait of a female musician, then, must
be viewed in this context. Her costume and self-display,
which can raise the eyebrows of a modern observer,
assume a more complex coloration in light of the libertine
concerns of seicento groups like the Incogniti - who
might well have appreciated the poignancy of the image's
transformation of the iconography of Saint Cecilia. For
most of them, a commitment to feminism was part of a
deliberately anti-dogmatic, unconventional stance, as they
argued, half-seriously, whether women had souls or even
belonged to the human race. In this world, an image like
the Dresden portrait carried a complicated web of
In his final testament Giulio Strozzi recalled to his heir
"how much I have done for her by raising her and setting
her on the path of virtue."47 He had indeed enabled Bar-
bara to establish a career as a professional musician, first
through the forum of the Accademia degli Unisoni. It is
entirely possible that his early efforts to publicize this
"virtuosissima cantatrice" included commissioning her
portrait by "il Prete Genovese."
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
Bibliography
Boschini, Marco, La carta del navegar pitoresco (Venice, 1660), ed. A.
Pallucchini, Venice-Rome, 1966.
Maylander, Michele, Storie delle accademie d'Italia, Bologna, 1926-1930.

significance; its very provocativeness could be read as the Mortari, Luisa, Bernardo Strozzi, Rome, 1966.

positive self-assertion of a woman "educata in liberth," Rosand, Ellen, "Barbara Strozzi, virtuosissima cantatrice: The Com-
proud of her talents and yet aware of the ambivalence and poser's Voice," Journal of the American Musicological Society, xxxx,
precariousness of her situation. 1978.

44 Mortari, 170, fig. 441. Although citing Monaco's engraving, Mortari Lasne in Paris; inscribed "IN VOETI MANV PICTAM STROZZAE I-
fails to record the inscription or to recognize its significance for MAGANEM,"
es- this portrait of Giulio Strozzi, rebaptized, graces the
tablishing the provenance of the painting; both were noted by Giannan- biography of Bernardo. See Fiocco, 24, and, for Vouet's work, Georgette
tonio Moschini, Dell'incisione in Venezia, Venice, 1924, 73. For the Dargent and Jacques Thuillier, "Simon Vouet en Italie. Essai de catalogue
Busenello house "nella contrada della Crose di Venetia," see Arthur critique," Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte, Iv, 1965, 49, No. A38, fig.
Livingston, La vita veneziana nelle opere di Gian Francesco Busenello, 65. Further on the portraits of Giulio Strozzi, see Macandrew (as in note
Venice, 1913, 21, 30f., 41. 20).
45 A drawn portrait of Giulio in the Uffizi (Inv. 12871F) is now generally 46 Another painter deeply involved with this circle, as we have already
attributed to Bernardo Strozzi (cf. Terisio Pignatti in La pittura del seen, was Tinelli, who not only painted Giulio Strozzi's portrait but also
Seicento a Venezia, as in note 4, 172), although it had been ascribed to that of the Incognito Nicolo Crasso, "in veste di Lupi ceruieri e libro in
Tiberio Tinelli by Nicola Ivanoff (I disegni italiani del Seicento, scuole mano in atto di discorrere, cosi naturale," as well as that of "una sua
venete, lombarde ..., Venice, 1959, No. 9). Tinelli's own painted portrait amica con la penna ..." (Ridolfi, as in note 37 11, 283; cf. Boschini, 497f.).
of Giulio Strozzi is also in the Uffizi, having been left to Cardinal The full role of artists in the intensely active cultural world of seicento
Leopoldo de' Medici by Paolo del Sera (see Michelangelo Muraro, Venice has not yet been adequately explored. Of most immediate
"Studiosi, collezionisti e opere d'arte veneta dalle lettere al Cardinale relevance to our topic is the brief study by Nicola Ivanoff, "Gian Fran-
Leopoldo de' Medici," Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte, Iv, 1965, 72; cesco Loredan e l'ambiente artistico a Venezia nel Seicento," Ateneo
Savini Branca, as in note 25, 112) - who also possessed Bernardo Veneto, III, 1965, 186-190. For more general considerations, cf. also idem,
Strozzi's portrait of Monteverdi (see above, note 43). (On this circle of "Arte e critica d'arte nella Venezia del Seicento," in La civilta veneziana
collectors and connoisseurs, see Jennifer Fletcher, "Marco Boschini and nell'eti barocca, Florence, 1959, 185-214, and Rodolfo Pallucchini,
Paolo del Sera, Collectors and Connoisseurs of Venice," Apollo, cx, 1979, "Marco Boschini e la pittura veneziana del Seicento," in Barocco europeo
416-424.) Fiocco's hesitation regarding the attribution of the Uffizi por- e barocco veneziano, ed. Vittore Branca, Florence, 1962, 95-136. The
trait to Tinelli (Venetian Painting of the Seicento and the Settecento, most recent, though not exhaustive, bibliography is that in Homan Pot-
Florence-New York, 1929, 29, pl. 24) seems unwarranted in light of terton's exhibition catalogue, Venetian Seventeenth Century Painting (as
Ridolfi's precise description of this artist's portrait of "Giulio Strozzi in note 4).
poeta illustre con laurea in capo" (as in note 37, 11, 280; cf. also Boschini, 47 "Lascio a lei la cura, come mia herede e commissaria di far qualche
500). limosina agli ospedali di questa citth, che certo se ne resentira la sua
Fiocco did, however, correct a major confusion concerning the two borsa, perche il mio, merce della mala fortuna provata ogn'hora, non val
Strozzi that had been perpetuated by Ratti in his edition of Soprani's tanto, che possa estendermi in opere dovute alla Christiana pieta. Ma so
Vite. Seeking a portrait to illustrate the life of the painter, Ratti adapted a
ch'ella lo fara volontieri ricordandosi di quanto ho fatto per lei in
design by Simon Vouet, drawn in Venice in 1627 and engraved by Michel allevarla, e metterla sul cammino della Virti" (see above, note 8).

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