CONTE, Jacopino del

Entering to the oratory we can find on the entrance wall at right the scene St John the Baptist Preaching (1538, on the left on the photo) and the Baptism of Christ (1541, on the right).

Entering to the oratory we can find on the entrance wall at right the scene St John the Baptist Preaching (1538, on the left on the photo) and the Baptism of Christ (1541, on the right).

Bindo Altoviti (1491-1557) of the House of Altoviti was one of the most influential papal bankers of his generation and patron to the arts cultivating close friendships with artists as Vasari, Cellini, Raphael and Michelangelo. His famous portrait of 1515 as a young man by Raphael is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

The sitter of this portrait, Cardinal Niccolò Gaddi (1537-1591), belonged to the Gaddi family which had occupied a major role in Florentine political life for a long while. He is notable as an art collector and advisor to the Medici art collections.

This portrait depicts an architectural background in the left, with light falling through a window. The cardinal holds gloves in one hand.

Jacopino’s latest works, such as the Portrait of a Cardinal Niccolò Gaddi, are characterized by a formal severity and cold directness favoured in Roman Counter-Reformation circles,

Jacopino del Conte was a pupil of Andrea del Sarto and worked independently on a number of devotional works after his master’s death in 1530. By 1538 he had settled in Rome and was a member of the Accademia di San Luca. While continuing to paint religious subjects, notably a fresco cycle for the decoration of the oratory of San Giovanni Decollato, he also turned to portraiture, eventually becoming one of Rome’s leading portrait painters. According to his biographer, the painter Giovanni Baglione, he painted all the popes of his time, as well as cardinals, Roman princes, ambassadors and nobility.

Jacopino del Conte was born in Florence where he was a pupil of Andrea del Sarto and worked independently on a number of devotional works after his master’s death in 1530. By 1538 he had settled in Rome and was a member of the Accademia di San Luca. While continuing to paint religious subjects, notably a fresco cycle for the decoration of the oratory of San Giovanni Decollato, he also turned to portraiture, eventually becoming one of Rome’s leading portrait painters.

The present portrait depicts a gentleman, three-quarter length, standing and holding a pair of gloves in his right hand, his left hand resting on a book, before a green curtain. Until 1978 the painting was attributed to Bronzino then to Alessandro Allori. The identity of the sitter, at one time thought to be Niccolò Machiavelli, remains unknown.

Long associated with the workshop of Andrea del Sarto and previously published with an attribution to the master himself, this arresting depiction of Saint Catherine of Alexandria was correctly ascribed by Federico Zeri to Jacopino del Conte, one of Andrea del Sarto’s most distinguished pupils.

The composition of the present picture is based on a cartoon for the imposing Sarzana altarpiece (destroyed) by Andrea del Sarto, a commission undertaken by the master in 1528 which was described in detail by Vasari.

This scene is located on the right wall, close to the altar.

The Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato in Rome houses the most important fresco cycle executed in the difficult decades after he Sack of Rome. It was commissioned by the Florentine confraternity of the Misericordia, founded in 1488, whose members had set themselves the task of helping those sentenced to death by providing them with spiritual support. Shortly after its founding the confraternity began the construction of the church and oratory next door. The completion of the church was delayed until 1553. By around 1536, on the other hand, the oratory had been completed to the extent that the painted decoration of the room could begin.

The subject chosen for the fresco cycle, which covers the upper half of all four walls, was the story of the patron saint of the brotherhood, John the Baptist. For the execution of the cycle they selected Florentine (or Tuscan) artists working in Rome at the time. The most renowned Florentine painter active in Rome was Perino del Vaga, and several preparatory drawings for the frescoes by him have been preserved. Perino’s designs were executed by younger Florentine artists, Jacopino del Conte and Cecchino (Francesco) del Salviati.

Jacopino del Ponte painted on the entrance wall St John the Baptist Preaching (1538, on the left) and the Baptism of Christ (1541, on the right), on the right wall The Annunciation to Zachariah (1536-38). Salviati painted the Visitation (1538), the Birth of St John the Baptist (1551, on the right wall). The sixth fresco, the Arrest of St John the Baptist (c. 1543, on the left wall) was executed by Battista Franco, who came from Venice but worked in Florence. Pirro Ligorio painted the Feast of Herod with the Dance of Salome (1544-53, on the left wall). Starting in 1550, Salviati painted two apostles on the altar wall, Andrew (to the left of the altar) and Bartholomew (to the right). The altarpiece, an excellent panel with the Descent from the Cross was painted by Jacopino (1550-53). The fresco cycle was completed in 1553 with the Beheading of St John the Baptist. This was carried out by an assistant who reused some of Salviati’s older drawings for several figures but whose overall composition did not come close to approximating the achievements of his master.

The rivalry between Jacopino and Salviati, reported by Vasari, led to interruptions in the realization of the decorative program.

The picture shows the view of the oratory towards the altar.