(Camerano 1625–1713 Rome)
Portrait of Cardinal Camillo Massimo, circa 1671–72,
oil on canvas, 76 x 59 cm, framed

Provenance:
probably Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, Rome, 1744;
Private European collection;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Francesco Petrucci for suggesting the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

An engraving by Albert Clouet after a painting by Carlo Maratta corresponds with the present painting, and identifies the cardinal as Camillo Massimo (1620–1677). Camillo Massimo was elevated to this rank on 22 December 1670 by Clement X. The print, which was included in the volume Effigies Nomina et Cognomina S.R.E. cardd. published by Jacopo De Rossi from 1656 with subsequent new and revised editions, presents the subject half-bust length within an oval frame, upon which an inscription tablet bears the words: ‘CAMILLVS S.R.E. PRESB. CARD. MAXIMVS ROMANVS DIE XXII. DECEMBER. MDCLXX’.

In the collection of the Massimo princes in Rome, there is a three-quarter length portrait of Camillo Massimo by Carlo Maratta, which is also related to the Clouet print, and is considered its source. The prelate is shown standing, dressed in the rocchetto, the mozzetta of dark moiré silk and a beret, he rests his left hand on a table while in his right he holds a letter.

The authorship of the painting in the Massimo collection is assured, beyond its connection with the engraving and on the basis of style, it is cited in the inventory of the cardinal in 1677; the painting was later described in greater detail in the 1744 inventory of Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (see M. Pomponi, La collezione del cardinale Massimo e l’inventario del 1677, in: Camillo Massimo collezionista di antichità. Fonti e materiali, Rome 1996, p. 103 and p. 145, note 134).

The present painting is another version, half-bust length, of that in the Massimo collection. It faithfully reiterates the upper section of the full-length portrait, but instead sets the subject against a neutral background. This work could have been executed between 1671 and 1672, immediately after that in the Massimo collection which is described by Bellori, who thereby confirms that it was made at the time of the prelates’ elevation to the position of cardinal in December 1670 (see: G. P. Bellori, Le Vite de’ Pittori Scultori et Achitetti Moderni, (ante 1696), ed. by E. Borea, Turin 1976, p. 604).

The present second version is, on the basis of style also certainly by Maratta. The subject is characterised by a particular naturalness of expression and by a peculiar skill in the rendering of the folds of the mozzetta, as well as a singular sensitivity in the description of the transparency of the organza collar and a certain freedom in the depiction of the sitter’s curling locks of hair. Moreover, the suggested motion of his eyelids and mouth which are described as if caught in mid speech, with the tip of the tongue visible between the lips, is entirely in keeping with the original tenets of Marartti’s portraiture, which sought to achieve a pictorial assimilation of Bernini’s sculpture. The celebrated painter from the Marches enjoyed the esteem and unconditional admiration of Bernini, and he also contributed to the latter’s architectural projects. The present painting also shows significant stylistic affinities with the work of Giovanni Battista Gaulli, called il Baciccio, with whom Maratta competed for leadership in the Roman market for portraiture of the latter seventeenth century. As compared to the more usual and less challenging half-profile view, the frontal pose of the present subject is both audacious and rare, and it display’s the artist’s great confidence and ease with the brush. In accord with a compositional fashion established by Bernini, the subject’s bust is slightly turned to the side, as exemplified in the sculptor’s bust of cardinal Scipione Borghese (Galleria Borghese, Rome) wherein the subject is likewise suggestively depicted as if in mid speech.

The present portrait is not cited in the inventory of the inheritance left by the cardinal in 1677 which is quite precise in its attributions. However, the 1744 inventory of Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, the primary residence of this Roman family, records in addition to the already mentioned large portrait, another effigy of the cardinal made by Maratta, which may have come from the collection of the subject’s brother Fabio Camillo III (1621-1686), which would have been left to his descendants by his daughter Giulia, who was married to her cousin twice removed, Giovan Battista Camillo V, Marquis of Arsoli. This branch of the family, which after the said marriage was unified with the other, could have had a replica of the portrait. Indeed, described in the eighteenth century inventory, at number 193, we read: ‘Altro ritratto consimile [ad altro numerato 218] rap.te detto Porporato originale di Carlo Maratta, con cornice dorata’ [‘Another similar portrait (as that at number 218) representing said cardinal by Carlo Maratta, with a gilt frame’] this was valued at 50 scudi and thus only a little less than the larger work, valued at 60 scudi (see op. cit. Pomponi, 1996, p. 145, n. 134). It is even possible to suggest that the painting here under discussion, which would have been easier to handle and thus to take a counterpart transfer of, in preparation for the engraving, was in fact the one that served as the model for the engraving by Albert Clouet of the cardinal’s official portrait image.

Camillo Massimo was appointed cameriere segreto to Pope Innocent X in 1646, from 1654 to 1658 he served as apostolic nunzio in Spain and finally he was created cardinal by Clement X Altieri in 1670 with the title of Santa Maria in Domnica. He was formed in the ambit of the Giustiniani, his relations, and in the entourage of the Barberini. Camillo Massimo was a close friend of Giovanni Pietro Bellori with whom he collaborated on the attempt to limit the sale and dispersion of Roman archaeological works. He was a refined bibliophile and collector, a student of numismatics and an occasional painter, he enriched the prestigious family collection of ancient sculpture, medals and epigraphs and its vast paintings collection. In keeping with his inheritance, this cultured patron chose to be immortalised by other leading portrait specialists active in, or visiting, Rome during his life time, thus in addition to being portrayed by Maratta, he had his portrait taken at different moments of his life: Justus Sustermans portrayed him as a youth in secular dress (Massimo collection, Rome) and Diego Velázquez painted him in about 1650 while ranked a monsignor (National Trust, Kingston Lacy).