(Rome 1609–1694)
Portrait of a lady, bust-length,
oil on slate, tondo, diameter 40.3 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Rome, 2018;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Yuri Primarosa for suggesting the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a photograph and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

This portrait is among the works by Ippolito Leoni, the stepson of Ottavio (1578-1630) who, like him, was known by the moniker ‘Padovanino’. In Rome, he echoed the master’s successful portrait formula, both on blue prepared paper and in small scale works on copper or slate, and on occasion he also used his master’s models.

The present portrait can be dated to between 1635 and 1640. In the softly indefinite sfumato of the flesh tones and in the description of the lace collar, it reveals significant similarities to the Portrait of Cardinal Francesco Peretti, full figure painted by Ippolito Leoni in around 1642 (see Y. Primarosa, Ottavio Leoni (1578-1630), eccellente miniator di ritratti. Catalogo ragionato dei disegni e dei dipinti, Rome 2017, pp. 510-511, fig. 420.1). Together with the Portrait of Ottavio Leoni, given by Ippolito to the Accademia di San Luca in 1633, this work provides an important record of the period in which the younger Leoni was at his closest in style and sympathy of expression to the achievement of Ottavio.