Elevated to the papacy in 1740, Benedict XIV is shown wearing the ermine-lined cape (mozzetta) and ermine-lined hat (camauro) characteristic of papal winter garb. The stole is decorated with the papal keys and armorial device of the noble Lambertini family of Bologna. Subleyras had been chosen to paint the state portrait of the pope, but this informal one takes us much closer to the man whom Horace Walpole described as "a priest without insolence or interest, a prince without favorites, a pope without nephews."

Prospero Lambertini (1675–1758)—elected Pope Benedict XIV in August 1740—wears the ermine-lined papal cape and hat (mozzetta and camauro). His stole is decorated with the papal keys and the armorial device of the noble Lambertini family of Bologna.

Subleyras's earliest likeness of Benedict XIV is the official portrait commissioned in 1740 and completed in early 1741, now in the Musée Condé, Chantilly. Numerous replicas of this nearly full-length, seated portrait survive. The present more informal bust portrait was clearly painted from life and matches the description of a work in the inventories of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, Benedict's secretary of the treasury, and a renowned connoisseur and collector. Confirming evidence, however, such as an inventory number on the canvas itself or its reverse, is lacking. At least two painted copies of this portrait survive, one formerly in the Mansi collection, Lucca, and later in the collection of Jon Landau, New York (art market, Florence) and a second formerly in a private collection, California (sale, Christie's, New York, June 8, 2011, no. 44, as Studio of Pierre Subleyras). A damaged pastel in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, attributed to Subleyras (56 x 42 cm), reflects the same composition [see "Schöndruck, Widerdruck: Schriften-Fest für Michael Meier zum 20. Dezember 1985," Munich, 1985, fig. 17].

The history of the Valenti Gonzaga collection is discussed in detail in an essay by Rossella Vodret: "Dopo Silvio Valenti Gonzaga: sulle tracce di una collezione," in Ritratto di una collezione: Pannini e la Galleria del Cardinale Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, Milan, 2005, pp. 45–60.

[2012]

Inscription: Signed and dated (reverse): Pietro Subleiras 1746:

?Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga (until d. 1756; inv.,1756, no. 688, as "Altro quadro alto palmi tre, rappresentante ritratto di Nostro Signore Benedetto XIV . . . dipinto da Mr. Sublera scudi 10" [another painting 67 cm high, a portrait of Benedict XIV by Subleyras, valued at 10 scudi]; his estate, 1756–about 1760); ?his nephew, Luigi Valenti Gonzaga (about 1760–d. 1808; catalogue of the collection of Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, 1777, no. 509, "Quadro di palmi 3. per alrezza, e palmi 2., once 3. per alrezza, rappresentante Ritratto di Papa Benedetto XIV., in busto, in tela, del Subleras." [a painting 67 cm high by 50 cm wide, depicting Pope Benedict XIV, bust length, on canvas, by Subleyras]); Amiral comte de Saint-Bon, Minister of the Italian Fleet, Italy (late 19th century–1911; sold to Christin); G. Christin, Nyon, Switzerland (from 1911); private collection, a couple, Geneva (by about 1949–about 1999; sold by widow to next owner, below); private collection (about 1999–2009; sale, Sotheby's, New York, January 29, 2009, no. 73, to Adam Williams for MMA)

Inventario dei beni dell'eredità del cardinale Silvio Valenti Gonzaga. September 2, 1756, c. 795v–796r, no. 688 [Archivio di Stato, Rome, Segr. Canc. RCA, notaio Silvestro Antonio Mariotti, vol. 1085; published in "Ritratto di una collezione: Pannini e la Galleria del Cardinale Silvio Valenti Gonzaga," exh. cat., Milan, 2005, p. 348], calls this work a portrait of Pope Benedict XIV by Subleyras, "Altro quadro alto palmi tre [h. 67 cm], rappresentante ritratto di Nostro Signore Benedetto XIV . . . dipinto da Mr. Sublera scudi 10" [probably our picture].

Stato attivo e passivo dell'eredità di Roma del Card.le Silvio Valenti . . . 1777, no. 509 [Archivio di Stato, Mantua, Notaio Angelo Amadei, 1777; see published in "Ritratto di una collezione: Pannini e la Galleria del Cardinale Silvio Valenti Gonzaga," exh. cat., Milan, 2005, p. 315], describes it as a "Quadro di palmi 3. per alrezza, e palmi 2., once 3. per larghezza, rappresentante Ritratto di Papa Benedetto XIV., in busto, in tela, del Subleras." [a painting 67 cm high by 50 cm wide, depicting Pope Benedict XIV, bust length, on canvas, by Subleyras] (probably our picture).

Odette Arnaud. "Catalogue de l'œuvre de Subleyras." Les peintres français du XVIIIe siècle: histoire des vies et catalogue des œuvres. Paris, 1930, p. 83, under no. 133, lists as no. 133 a portrait of Benedict XIV (64 x 49 cm) in the Manzi [sic for Mansi] collection in Lucca and mentions an early replica with G. Christin in Nyon [Switzerland], purchased in June 1911 from "l'amiral Comte de Saint-Bon" in Italy; adds that the Christin replica is inscribed on its reverse: "Pietro Subleiras, 1746"; mentions another early copy at Versailles (no. 4494).

Olivier Michel and Pierre Rosenberg. Subleyras, 1699–1749. Exh. cat., Musée du Luxembourg. Paris, 1987, pp. 252–53, mention the bust portrait in the Mansi collection, Lucca, and the replica [our picture] with G. Christin mentioned by Arnaud [Ref. 1930]; tentatively identify the latter with a portrait on the art market in 1889 that bore a different inscription on its reverse; note that Anthony Clark "prudently" attributed the Munich pastel to Subleyras in a written communication.

Paul Jeromack in "Met Nets Sotheby's Subleyras." Artnet. March 11, 2009, ill. (color) [http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/new/jeromack/jeromack3-11-09.asp], calls it "perhaps the most human and beautiful portrait by the artist".

Alexandra Peers. "The Met Drops a Cool Million for an Old Master." New York Magazine online. March 12, 2009, ill. (color) [http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/03/the_met_drops_a_cool.html].

Important Old Master Paintings. Sotheby's, New York. January 29, 2009, pp. 194–95, no. 73, ill. (color, overall and detail), identifies this portrait as the example sold by the comte de Saint-Bon to Christin in 1911 [see Ref. Arnaud 1930].

"Un portrait de Benoît XIV par Subleyras entre au Met." Tribune de l'art. March 12, 2009, ill. (color) [http:///www.latribunedelart.com/Nouvelles_Breves_2009/03_09/Subleyras_Metropolitan_988.htm].

Keith Christiansen in "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2008–2010." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 68 (Fall 2010), p. 39, ill. (color).

Francesco Petrucci. Pittura di Ritratto a Roma: il Settecento. Rome, 2010, vol. 1, fig. 255 (color); vol. 3, pl. 1268.