BORGIANNI, Orazio
(b. 1574, Roma, d. 1616, Roma)

Self-Portrait

1615
Oil on canvas, 55 x 39 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

Until recent years the painting was attributed to Ludovico Carracci. However, in 1992 it was identified as the self-portrait of Orazio Borgianni on the basis of typological and stylistic similarities to the known portraits of that painter. Two self portraits of Borgianni are cited in the 1638 inventory of the Giustiniani collection, and in the will and testament of the painter. The rapid and essential brushstroke, with its almost impressionistic effect, contributes considerably to the lively expressiveness of the portrait and to the immediacy of its psychological qualities.

This portrait should fall chronologically between the two other known portraits of Borgianni; the luxuriant and healthy face of 1614 and the emaciated and febrile face that must date to just before the artist's death in 1616. In this picture, Borgianni's face is at an intermediary stage as the artist's illness is just beginning to show its effects. On the other hand, the accentuated baldness of the sitter in the Rome canvas would suggest a dating later than both the other portraits. On the basis of these conflicting considerations, seems best to date the execution of this self-portrait to 1615. Such a date makes sense stylistically, as the painting corresponds well with Borgianni's late phase, characterized by dense handling of the pictorial material, the dark shadows and almost monochrome palette.