Portrait of Paul III with a Councilor

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.