Attributed to Lorenzo Costa (Ferrara 1460-1535 Mantua)

This commanding, bust-length portrait was considered for much of the 20th century to be the work by Alvise Vivarini and as such was discussed within the context of Venetian portraiture. In his 1982 monograph, however, John Steer noted the complexity of the sitter’s clothing had little to do with Alvise and proposed instead that the painting is 'almost certainly' by the Bolognese painter, Lorenzo Costa (loc. cit.). The painting was later included in the 2002 Costa monograph by Emilio Negro and Nicosetta Roio, who instead give it to Francesco Francia (loc. cit.). Negro and Roio have not had the opportunity to assess the painting firsthand but recently renewed their attribution to Francia on the basis of updated photographs (written communication, dated 8 September 2020).
The portrait’s association with Costa, however, appears to be more compelling. Both Steer and Carl Strehlke (written communication, 10 September 2020) compare the painting to Costa’s Portrait of Giovanni II Bentivoglio in the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence (fig. 1), dating to the early 1490s. The solidity of form and the almost sculptural approach to the facial modelling are remarkably similar, as is the firm positioning of the head and its backward tilt on the neck.
While little is known of Lorenzo Costa’s life and artistic training, the influence of the Ferrarese painters, Cosimo Tura and Ercole de’ Roberti in his early work is marked and it is thought he may have worked under the latter. By 1483, Costa had settled in Bologna where he was occupied with the fresco decoration of numerous chapels as well as the production of easel paintings. One the few paintings by the artist that can be securely dated is his 1492 altarpiece, The Madonna and Child with Saints, in the city’s church of San Petronio. In 1507, he moved to Mantua to succeed Andrea Mantegna as court painter to the Gonzaga family, for whom he had already completed various commissions, and would remain in Mantua until the end of his life.
We are grateful to Carl Strehlke for endorsing the attribution and to Emilio Negro and Nicosetta Roio for proposing an alternative attribution to Francesco Francia.