(Urbino 1535–1612)
Study of the head of a lady in profile,
oil on panel, 43.4 x 33.3 cm, framed

on the reverse: seal Boncompagni Ludovisi (upper left hand side) and the seal Boncompagni Ruffo (lower right hand side)

Provenance:
Ugo Boncompagni, 4th Duke of Sora and Arce, Rome (1614–1676);
Gregorio II Boncompagni, 5th Duke of Sora and Arce, Rome (in 1701);
Antonio I Boncompagni, 6th Duke of Sora and Arce, Rome (1658-1721) after 1702 called Boncompagni Ludovisi;
thence by descent to the present owner

Documentation:
documented 1701, collection Gregorio Boncompagni Ludovisi “due teste del Barocci” on loan (see Literature)
ASV, Archivio Boncompagni Ludovisi, Inventory of Gregorio Boncompagni 17th March 1707 (prot. 659, nr. 5) 42 /n.2 Quadri da mezza testa per alto con cornici dorate, rappresentanti due teste con busti di Donne al naturale dipinti in tavola

Literature:
A. G. De Marchi, Mostre di quadri a San Salvatore in Lauro : (1682–1725); stime di collezioni romane. Note e appunti di Giuseppe Ghezzi, Rome 1987, p. 150.

We are grateful to Andrea Emiliani for confirming the attribution.

The present painting is related to Federico Barocci´s important altarpiece with the Sette Opere di Misericordia, known as the Madonna del Popolo, (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence) painted in the 1570s.

The lady in the present composition, presented in profile, is accompanied by many preparatory drawings, including one held in the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints at the Uffizi (inventory. no. 11603 F, verso), in which every fold of her garments is meticulously depicted. As we know, Barocci’s execution of portraiture took form in the studio, using a robed mannequin, while the face was taken from life in an everyday situation in oder for the artist to gain better details of the face and impart just the right expression.

As such the present work is an example of of Barocci´s creative process, an integral part of the painting it inspired, and an intrinsic part of it. The long and restless creative process behind his most demanding undertakings is intended above all to engender a sense of confidence and pertinence in his modelling of reality, a priority derived from a highly personal method of working and use of material that must have been inherited from the family of artisans and designers into which he was born.

Thus works like this were created, strongly realistic yet at the same time pervaded by a psychological exaltation of magical appeal and lucid vision. His is painting of union, in which light unites forms and colours through the organic nature of the line weaving rhythmic analogies and chromatic iridescences. The eye thus embraces a diaphanous vision, broadened and amplified like a sound wave.

The profile of the woman is sharply defined in its formal dynamism and pervaded by a sense of movement and vitality born of the internal motion of the fondness that in Barocci’s figures precedes the external manifestations and gestures.

The female figure studied here in the present compostion was then translated in her entirety to the altarpiece and specifically in the elegantly dressed woman kneeling at the far left of the painting, where every detail of her hair and jewellery seems to have satisfied perfectly the intentions of the painter, who replicates her here without significant change.

In the evolution of Barocci’s career, the Madonna del Popolo represents a milestone in which, in terms of his stylistic development and choice of content, the artist clearly manifests intention of depicting friendship and the beauty of the community reflected in the humanity of Christ. Indeed, the entire composition of the Opere di Misericordia is geared towards creating proximity and highlighting connections of friendship, suggested by gestures, allusions and a sense of familiarity. The characters in the scene present a veritable procession of recurring faces of friends and family members, a custom that had already taken hold in Barocci’s work in the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian for Urbino Cathedral.
It is thought that Barocci was born in 1535, and while still extremely young worked in the Vatican Gardens, where he decorated the great ground floor hall of the Casino di Pio IV (designed by Pirro Ligorio) with frescos, as well as other spaces within the Belvedere from 1562 onwards. After recovering from an unknown and unusual illness that had struck him in the eternal city, Barocci refused to return to Rome, despite having met with great success from his earliest years there. He had spent three hard years, working indefatigably and suffering ill health as a consequence, which was considered by many historians and friends as poisoning. At least, such was the vox populi, which always favours biographies with a touch of fantasy and romance. In reality, the painter was struck by profound physical exhaustion to the point of collapse, perhaps because of a duodenal ulcer, as is suggested by the detailed notes he made of his symptoms, described to us by witnesses.

Pains, insomnia and melancholy are perhaps the physical and sentimental conditions expected of any artist in platonic thinking, yet it seems more convincing that, with renewed health, the old vocation of Christological spiritual and mystical meditation reaffirmed itself within him. We can therefore affirm, as do past biographers, that he went to the small monastery at Crocicchia. The site was located along the ancient road between the Metaurus and the old city of Urbino; the monastery was the first to be built by a small group of reformed Franciscans who had taken the name of Capuchins.

All we see in Barocci reveals conformity and acceptance of the doctrine of Saint Francis, and the great painting of the Sette Opere di Misericordia, commissioned by the Oratorio of the Battuti Bianchi Santa Maria della Misericordia di Arezzo, is a true repertory of figures shown in the act of friendship and devout admiration of the human and local community. Virgilio Bruni, a student in the house on via San Giovanni belonging to Federico Barocci’s brother Simon, gave Giovanni Battista Bellori the first fresh appreciation of Barocci’s painterly, stylistic and technical manners and his meticulous approach some years before the drafting of Le Vite de’ Pittori, which was published in 1672.

With regard to dating, the work for the Oratorio is significant if seen within the context of his production of those years – the late 1570s. There are a series of records, biographical and historical references (such as the letters from Ambassador Maschi in Spain) by both Barocci and the Battuti, thanks to which the task can be undertaken in detail. Some years passed (from 1575 to 1579) between the complex issuance of the commission, commencement of work on the painting and the painting being finally delivered by hand, perhaps passing the ridge of the Apennines between Tuscany and the Duchy of Urbino by the paths of Alpe della Luna, between Montefeltro and Casentino, and ultimately reaching Arezzo. Barocci followed in person to take care of every detail of the picture’s placement and, as we know, also to satisfy himself with regard to the effectiveness of the lighting planned for the Tuscan altar.

We are grateful to Andrea Emiliani for his help in cataloguing the present painting.

additional pictures
Federico Barocci, Studies for Madonna del Popolo, white and black chalk pastels, red chalk, (Paris, Fondation Custodia), © Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris