Portrait of a man from Ems, 1617

About the Work

Straightforward and unadorned, Leoni’s portrait conveys an immediate and truthful impression of the Roman nobleman Giovanni Angelo Altemps. The latter was one of the most learned men in the city. He engaged in lively correspondence with Galileo Galilei and owned a library of nearly 12,000 volumes. Leoni began dating and numbering his drawings in 1615. He inscribed the year at the bottom centre, the month at the left, and above it the serial number. This portrait was thus executed in June of 1617 as number 69 in the series.