|
The identification of this elderly gentleman sitting at a desk in his study is borne out by the inscription on the fore-edge of the book he is writing in, which displays the words "rime del casellio". Giovanni Battista Caselli was a poet and medal engraver who enjoyed prominence in Cremona during his lifetime, though there is little reliable information about him today. Nevertheless, Caselli's social significance in the mid-sixteenth century would explain why his portrait was included in the gallery of distinguished men decorating the cubicolo (bedroom) of the home of the canon Pietro Antonio Lanzoni, il Tolentino. As was customary in the period, the picture gallery featured likenesses of emperors, philosophers, orators, and poets and also included prominent people of contemporary Cremona, members of artistic and literary circles which canon Lanzoni likewise frequented. Sofonisba and her sister Lucia Anguissola (c. 1537-c. 1565) were involved in the project.
Both young women were celebrities in the city: their family background, sex, and excellent portraiture skills earned them a reputation locally. Lucia was commissioned to execute the portrait of the poet (no longer extant) and military architect Benedetto Ala. Sofonisba was entrusted with this picture of Caselli, painted soon before she left for the Spanish court. It attests to the degree of artistic maturity she had attained by then.
This work shows the subject seated in his study, a setting whose only spatial reference is the writing desk draped with a patterned Anatolian rug of the type known as "Holbein" or "Lotto" carpet. Sofonisba demonstrates she is a keenly observant painter capable of describing details such as the books and Caselli's hands and head with subtle realism. The execution is based on meticulous drawing and precise, neat dabs of paint that define the sitter's facial features and, above all, convey his psychological depth.
The poet looks up from his work - writing praise for the Virgin - and points with his left hand to the small picture of the Virgin and Child with the infant St John hanging on the background wall. The text is written in Italian in elegant humanist minuscule. On top of the other books piled on the table is a small armillary sphere that was concealed by a portable crucifix until the canvas was cleaned in 2011.
|
