Getty Museum

Portrait of Napoleone Orsini II

Date

about 1619

Medium

Pen and black ink, gray wash and white heightening,, on green prepared paper

Culture

German ?

Department

Drawings

Institution

Getty Museum

A portrait of a man dressed in armor fills the center of this tondo. Depicted in three-quarter view, his face is deeply lined, a sign of aging and experiences lived. He is identified by an inscription as Napoleone Orsini II, Lord of Bracciano and standard-bearer of the Catholic Church. The border is embellished with floral motifs, military trophies, the papal regalia of the crossed keys and papal crown, and the sitter's personal motto *In hostes*. The portrait relates to a set of engravings that illustrates a manuscript entitled *Elogii di cento e più personaggi illustri di casa Orsina* (Archivio Storico Capitolano, Rome). Recounting the history of the Orsini family up to ca. 1460–70, the text and the accompanying prints were created by a little-known artist of German origin called Giovanni Campagna. It has been suggested that the Getty drawing was made as a presentation sheet to secure a patron's support which would have allowed Campagna to bring the manuscript current. The drawing has a fascinating provenance. Along with sixteen other portraits of members of the Orsini family, it once belonged the seventeenth-century patron and scholar Cassiano dal Pozzo's [Paper Museum](https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/research/research-projects/paper-museum-cassiano-dal-pozzo). Cassiano's collection, which consisted of over 7,000 drawings and prints, functioned as a visual encyclopedia by bringing together a breadth of knowledge.

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