Portrait of the Cardinal, Ludovico Gazzoli, signed to the lower right edge: Fra Podesti fecit, dated 1832(?) on the book cover, oil on canvas, 94 x 71.5 cm, unframed

Provenance:
European private collection.

Literature:
F. Podesti, ‘Memorie biografiche’, in Labyrinthos 1982, I, 1/2, p. 213;
E. Masi, ‘Il Giuramento […] ed elenco generale delle sue opere’, Loreto 1856 in M.T. Barolo, ‘Note alle Memorie di Francesco Podesti’, in Labyrinthos, 1982, II, 3/4, pp. 128-196.

This painting depicts Cardinal Ludovico Gazzoli (Terni 1774 – 1858 Rome) in 1832, when he was appointed cardinal by Pope Gregory XVI.
The painting is signed to the lower right. It was mentioned by Podesti himself in his Memorie biografiche, written between August 1869 and January 1870. Aside from this, the painting was mentioned in a list of paintings, published by Masi in 1856 (see literature). This list dates the work to 1832 and gives as its subject matter, a half-length portrait of Cardinal Ludovico Gazzoli. The portrait was presumably commissioned on the occasion of his appointment as cardinal in pectore on 30 September 1831.
Gazzoli was born in Terni in Umbria and enjoyed a glittering career in the papal administration. In 1802 he was appointed principal of the papal Order of Fabriano, in 1814 Papal Legate in Spoleto and he took over the Legate in Ancona between 1815 and 1821. After his appointment as cardinal, he continued his activities in Rome, becoming Prefect of the Buon Governo in 1843.