VIGHI, Giacomo

(b. ~1510 Argenta, d. 1573 Torino)

Italian painter, also called Jacopo d’Argenta. He was born in Argenta, near Ferrara. He is said to have painted a loggetta in the tower of Santa Caterina in the Castello di Ferrara, depicting the then princes and princesses of the House of Este. In Turin, he became the official portrait painter of the House of Savoy and traveled to France, Spain, Bohemia, and Saxony in this role.

He was commissioned by Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, as a buyer for artworks for the Savoy Palaces. Two of his portraits, Emmanuel Philibert and Carlo Emmanuele I, remain in the Galleria Sabauda.

Portrait of Charles Emmanuel of Savoy with Dwarf

Charles Emmanuel I (Carlo Emanuele di Savoia; 1562-1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630. Well-educated, and intelligent, he spoke Italian, French and Spanish, as well as Latin. He proved an able warrior although short and hunchbacked. Being also ambitious and confident, he pursued a policy of expansion for his duchy, seeking to expand it into a kingdom.

The painting shows the later Duke as a boy.

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Portrait of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy

Emmanuel Philibert (Italian Emanuele Filiberto; 1528-1580)was the duke of Savoy. He recovered most of the lands his father Charles III had lost to France and Spain. A skilled soldier and a wily diplomat, he was also an able administrator who restored economic equilibrium to Savoy while freeing it from foreign occupation.

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Portrait of Vittoria Farnese

Vittoria Farnese (1521-1602) was the wife of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duck of Urbino. She is dressed in black with a light veil over her head and a stiff collar: a form of dress that conforms to the Catholic Counter-reformation style. A gold pendant with a large stone hangs down to the chest and from the fabric belt hangs a rosary with beads of rock crystal. She is represented three quarter length.

This painting is one of the rare works which the artist signed and dated.

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