Portrait of Prince Alessandro Farnese explained

The Portrait of Prince Alessandro Farnese is a painting by the 16th-century Italian artist Sofonisba Anguissola. It depicts the prince, later the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as 15-year old boy, dressed in refined courtly clothing. Prince Alessandro was the son of Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma, and the grandson of King Charles V of Spain.[1] The portrait was painted in and now hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland, in Dublin.[2]

The painting was purchased by the National Gallery of Ireland in 1864. At the time it was attributed to Alonso Sánchez Coello, but later study of the painting revealed it to be the work of Anguissola. The reattribution revealed this to have been the first painting by a female artist to enter the gallery's collection.

Notes and References

  1. Bodart. Diane H.. 2018-04-03. Les visages d'Alexandre Farnèse, de l'héritier du duché de Parme au défenseur de la foi. Bulletin du Centre de recherche du château de Versailles. Sociétés de cour en Europe, XVIe–XIXe siècle – European Court Societies, 16th to 19th Centuries. 10.4000/crcv.14759 . fr. 1958-9271. free.
  2. Web site: Portrait of Prince Alessandro Farnese (1545–1592), later Duke of Parma and Piacenza. onlinecollection.nationalgallery.ie. en. 2020-05-04.