Jean de Saive - Portrait of Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands
Jean de Saive
Portrait of Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands
Oil on copper. 9.8 x 7.3 cm.
The small picture, sumptuously housed in a magnificent frame of the period, is one of the rare portraits of Alessandro Farnese painted during his difficult but successful years as governor of Flanders. The miniature portrait was owned by the Savoy family until 2005. In 2016, it was published by Riccardo Lattuada as part of an exhibition in Piacenza.
Lattuada's convincing attribution to the Flemish painter Jean de Saive is based on three other portraits of Alessandro Farnese signed by him. These are three larger-than-life, full-length portraits, which are in the Galleria Nazionale in Parma, the Museo Stibbert in Florence and in a Belgian private collection respectively (R. Lattuada, op. cit., p. 23, figs. 9, 10 and 11). The latter is dated 1581 and is probably the first of the three versions. The facial features of the still young governor are so similar to those in our picture that it can be assumed that it was painted close to this date. Farnese is not yet wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, which he received from King Philip I of Spain in 1585 for his services in Flanders.
In 1581, both Alessandro Farnese and the painter Jean de Saive were in Namur and it is very likely that at least the first two portraits were created there. Saive's portraits of the governor, who came from the old Italian aristocracy, are the most representative that were painted during his time in Flanders. This shows that Jean de Saive was not just a 'concierge du vignoble de la Cour de Bruxelles', but a valued painter who was able to fulfil his patron's wishes to the full. Moreover, there is no doubt that it is thanks to the works of Jean de Saive - including this one - that we can get to know the young Alessandro Farnese better. The splendid frame in which we admire the painting today bears witness to the importance that was attached to it.
Alessandro Farnese never saw his Italian homeland again. After the death of his father in 1586, he asked for permission to take up his paternal inheritance, but was refused by Philip II as he was unable to replace him in the Low Countries. After the assassination of the French King Henry III in December 1589, he was ordered to France. From 1590, he fought there in support of the Catholic opposition against Henry IV. He died at the siege of Arras in 1592.
Provenance
Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. - European private collection.
Literature
Riccardo Lattuada: Alessandro Farnese, un grande condottiero in miniatura, il Duca di Parma e Piacenza. Ritratto da Jean Saive, exh. cat. Biffi Arte, Piacenza 2016.
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Jean de Saive
Portrait of Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands
Oil on copper. 9.8 x 7.3 cm.
The small picture, sumptuously housed in a magnificent frame of the period, is one of the rare portraits of Alessandro Farnese painted during his difficult but successful years as governor of Flanders. The miniature portrait was owned by the Savoy family until 2005. In 2016, it was published by Riccardo Lattuada as part of an exhibition in Piacenza.
Lattuada's convincing attribution to the Flemish painter Jean de Saive is based on three other portraits of Alessandro Farnese signed by him. These are three larger-than-life, full-length portraits, which are in the Galleria Nazionale in Parma, the Museo Stibbert in Florence and in a Belgian private collection respectively (R. Lattuada, op. cit., p. 23, figs. 9, 10 and 11). The latter is dated 1581 and is probably the first of the three versions. The facial features of the still young governor are so similar to those in our picture that it can be assumed that it was painted close to this date. Farnese is not yet wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, which he received from King Philip I of Spain in 1585 for his services in Flanders.
In 1581, both Alessandro Farnese and the painter Jean de Saive were in Namur and it is very likely that at least the first two portraits were created there. Saive's portraits of the governor, who came from the old Italian aristocracy, are the most representative that were painted during his time in Flanders. This shows that Jean de Saive was not just a 'concierge du vignoble de la Cour de Bruxelles', but a valued painter who was able to fulfil his patron's wishes to the full. Moreover, there is no doubt that it is thanks to the works of Jean de Saive - including this one - that we can get to know the young Alessandro Farnese better. The splendid frame in which we admire the painting today bears witness to the importance that was attached to it.
Alessandro Farnese never saw his Italian homeland again. After the death of his father in 1586, he asked for permission to take up his paternal inheritance, but was refused by Philip II as he was unable to replace him in the Low Countries. After the assassination of the French King Henry III in December 1589, he was ordered to France. From 1590, he fought there in support of the Catholic opposition against Henry IV. He died at the siege of Arras in 1592.
Provenance
Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. - European private collection.
Literature
Riccardo Lattuada: Alessandro Farnese, un grande condottiero in miniatura, il Duca di Parma e Piacenza. Ritratto da Jean Saive, exh. cat. Biffi Arte, Piacenza 2016.
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Time, Location
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