(Leuven 1553–1616 Cologne)
Violante or ‘La Bella Gatta’(after Titian),
monogrammed upper left: GG. F.,
oil on panel, 50 x 37.5 cm, framed

The present painting is an interesting art historical discovery. It is the only known signed work by Gortzius Geldorp which closely follows an Italian Master. The present painting is based on Titians famous Violante, also known as the Bella Gatta, which in Geldorps lifetime formed part of the collection of Bartolomeo della Nave in Venice before it entered the archducal collection of Leopold Wilhelm of Austria in Brussels. It is today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (Inv. GG 65). The exact circumstances in which Geldorp had the opportunity to study the original – finely captured details demonstrate that he most likely worked from the original rather than from a contemporary copy – are difficult to establish. It is possible that Geldorp travelled to Venice in the entourage of Duke Carlo d’Aragona Tagliavia, an important imperial diplomat, later Governor of Milan and Viceroy of Sicily, who in 1579, impressed by the young artists talent, had employed Geldorp to accompany him. Even though an Italian sojourn by Geldorp is not documented, this recently rediscovered painting would appear to endorse such a theory.