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Federico Gonzaga (1500–1540)

1510
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 604

The great Renaissance collector Isabella d’Este, marchioness of Mantua, commissioned this portrait of her son Federico Gonzaga to console her after he was taken to the papal court in Rome as a hostage. Francia based it on sketches he made of the ten-year-old heir as he was escorted through Bologna on his way to surrender himself. The painting, completed in just twelve days, captures a stylish youth with a gentle gaze and rosy cheeks that seem intended to convey purity and sweetness. Letters reveal that though Isabella was pleased with Francia’s work, the powerful matriarch thought Federico’s hair looked too blonde and sent it back so that the artist could darken it.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Federico Gonzaga (1500–1540)
  • Artist: Francesco Francia (Italian, Bologna ca. 1447–1517 Bologna)
  • Date: 1510
  • Medium: Tempera on wood, transferred from wood to canvas and then again to wood
  • Dimensions: Overall 18 7/8 x 14 in. (47.9 x 35.6 cm); painted surface 17 3/4 x 13 1/2 in. (45.1 x 34.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
  • Object Number: 14.40.638
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Hercules and Dejanira, Francesco Francia Italian, Silver, niello, Italian, Bologna
Hercules and Dejanira
Francesco Francia
Peregrino da Casena
late 15th century
Francesco degli Alidosi, Cardinal of Pavia 1505, Legate of Bologna and Romagna, 1508-11, Francesco Francia Italian, Bronze, Italian
Francesco degli Alidosi, Cardinal of Pavia 1505, Legate of Bologna and Romagna, 1508-11
Francesco Francia
1505–1510
Giovanni II Bentivoglio 1443–1508, Lord of Bologna 1463–1506, Francesco Francia Italian, Bronze, Italian
Giovanni II Bentivoglio 1443–1508, Lord of Bologna 1463–1506
Francesco Francia
1494
Cardinal Francesco degli Alidosi, Francesco Francia Italian, Bronze, Italian
Returned to lender
Cardinal Francesco degli Alidosi
Francesco Francia
ca. 1505–1511
Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Jerome, Francesco Francia Italian, Oil and gold on wood
Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Jerome
Francesco Francia
ca. 1512–15

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