Porträt von Marcello Provenzale, 1614

About the Work

Ottavio Leoni’s perceptive portraits earned him a reputation as an “unrivalled archivist of the human character”. His subjects included not only the secular and religious elite of his time, but also people in his own personal sphere. Among the latter was the mosaic artist Marcello Provenzale, a close friend of Leoni’s. Their personal connection may be what accounts for the pose, an unusually lively one for Leoni’s portraiture.