''Portrait of Doña Isabel de Requesens y Enríquez de Cardona-Anglesola'' is an oil painting dated circa 1518 that was formerly believed to depict Giovanna d'Aragona. It has been variously ascribed to

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-cent ...

, or the school of Raphael; it is now usually taken to have been executed by Giulio Romano based on a sketch by Raphael and then altered by Raphael. The painting is now in the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in Lens.

History

The portrait of "the

vicereine A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

of Naples" was commissioned from Raphael in 1518 by

Cardinal Bibbiena Bernardo Dovizi of Bibbiena (4 August 1470 – 9 November 1520) was an Italian cardinal and comedy writer, known best as Cardinal Bibbiena, for the town of Bibbiena, where he was born. Biography He received a substantial literary training, ...

on behalf of Pope

Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

for

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

, who collected portraits of beautiful women.Joanna Woods-Marsden, "Portrait of the Lady, 1430–1520", in: ''Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's "Ginevra de' Benci" and Renaissance Portraits of Women'', ed. David Alan Brown, Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2001, , pp. 62–87, pp. 80–81.

Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme Pierre de Bourdeille (, – 15 July 1614), called the seigneur et abbé de Brantôme, was a French historian, soldier and biographer. Life Born at Bourdeilles in the Périgord, Brantôme was the third son of the baron François de Bourde ...

took the description to refer to Giovanna d'Aragona (1502 – 1575);Louis Villat ''et al''.
"Chronique"
''Revue du seizième siècle'' 11 (1924) 115–28, pp. 115–16 a study in 1997 demonstrated that the subject was rather

Isabel de Requesens Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew '' Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popu ...

, the wife of

Ramón de Cardona Ramon Folc de Cardona i Anglesola (Italian: ''Raimondo di Cardona'') (1467 – 10 March 1522) was a Catalan general and politician, who served as the viceroy of Naples during the Italian Wars and commanded the Spanish forces in Italy during the ...

, who was

viceroy of Naples This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Naples. Following the conquest of Naples by Louis XII of France in 1501, Naples was subject to the rule of the foreign rulers, the Kings of France, Aragon and Spain and the Habsburg Archdukes of Austri ...

from 1509 to 1522.Michael P. Fritz, ''Giulio Romano et Raphaël: La vice-reine de Naples ou la renaissance d'une beauté mythique'', tr. Claire Nydegger, Collection Solo 5, Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1997, According to

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

, Raphael sent Giulio Romano, one of his young assistants, to Naples to paint the portrait, except for the face, which he was responsible for; documentary evidence survives in Raphael's hand confirming Giulio Romano's work on this commission. The face has indeed been altered; otherwise Vasari's description might also apply to another portrait which has been attributed to Giulio Romano and Raphael, ''Isabella of Aragon as Mona Lisa'', depicting

Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan Isabella of Aragon (2 October 1470 – 11 February 1524), also known as Isabella of Naples, was by marriage Duchess of Milan and ''suo jure'' Duchess of Bari. A member of the Neapolitan branch of the House of Trastamara, her life was characte ...

, also known as Isabella of Naples. Opinions have varied as to who executed the cartoon for the ''Portrait of Doña Isabel de Requesens'', which was likely reused for that of Isabella of Aragon; Luitpold Dussler considered the painting entirely Giulio Romano's work. However, both portraits are now generally thought to have been executed to Raphael's design, and the two paintings have been referred to as Raphael's ''Giocondae'' for their visual references to

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...

s ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...

'' (also known as ''La Gioconda''), which was already in Francis I's collection.Donato Pezzutto
"Raphael's Gioconda"
''OPUSej'', 26 June 2013 (pdf). It is also possible that the portrait of Isabella of Aragon is a copy; the gallery that holds it, the

Doria Pamphilj Gallery The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is a large art collection housed in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, between Via del Corso and Via della Gatta. The principal entrance is on the Via del Corso (until recently, the entrance to the gallery was fr ...

in Rome, lists it as "after" Raphael. A number of copies of the painting exist, and Vasari states that one copy entirely by Giulio Romano was made at the same time and included in the gift to the king; Brantôme reported having seen one version in the king's apartments at Fontainebleau, the other in the queen's. The ''Portrait of Doña Isabel de Requesens'' was restored by

Francesco Primaticcio Francesco Primaticcio (April 30, 1504 – 1570) was an Italian Mannerist painter, architect and sculptor who spent most of his career in France. Biography Born in Bologna, he trained under Giulio Romano in Mantua and became a pupil of ...

in the mid-16th century and transferred from the original wood to canvas either then or in the 18th century. Isabella di Aragona as Mona Lisa

Description

The subject is portrayed seated, turned to the viewer's left, wearing a deep red velvet dress trimmed with gold whose sleeves are slashed to reveal the cream fabric of her chemise, and a hat with jewels on the brim, whose shape suggests a halo. She is portrayed in three-quarters length, one hand fingering the fur around her shoulders, the other resting on one knee. In the background a woman leans against the railing of a loggia overlooking a garden; the vault is a visual quotation from the story of

Cupid and Psyche Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called '' The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between P ...

as painted by Raphael on the ceiling of the ''Loggia di Psiche'' at the

Villa Farnesina The Villa Farnesina is a Renaissance suburban villa in the Via della Lungara, in the district of Trastevere in Rome, central Italy. Description The villa was built for Agostino Chigi, a rich Sienese banker and the treasurer of Pope Julius II. B ...

in Rome. Her loose hair, the red garments (the colour of love for

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

), and her meeting the viewer's gaze are all sensuous details; further, the portrait is innovative in including her knees, which in addition are visibly parted, and in not having her hands chastely together as a barrier. The composition corresponds to that of other Raphael portraits in being based on the musical ratio 9/12/16. Both Isabel de Requesens and Giovanna d'Aragona were famous beauties; Giovanna was the subject of a poem by

Agostino Nifo Agostino Nifo ( Latinized as Augustinus Niphus; 1538 or 1545) was an Italian philosopher and commentator. Life He was born at Sessa Aurunca near Naples. He proceeded to Padua, where he studied philosophy. He lectured at Padua, Naples, Rome, and ...

, "De pulchro et amore", and it has been suggested that the beauty in the painting was as much formulaic as true to life. Both ''Giocondae'' portraits feature carved cats on the right which resemble lions, a punning allusion to Leonardo. The woman in the background is replaced by a man in the portrait of Isabella of Naples; they may allude respectively to the sitter and the artist in the ''Mona Lisa''.

Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...

likely had this painting in mind when he painted his regal picture of his wife Suzanne, '' The Reading''.Stéphane Guégan
"Raphaël et Cie"
blogs, ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', 11 November 2012 .

References

External links

Giulio Romano, peut-être avec l’intervention de Raphaël, ''Portrait de Doña Isabel de Requesens y Enríquez de Cardona-Anglesola'', 1518
Louvre Museum
"''Portrait of Dona Isabel de Requesens, Lady Viceroy of Naples'', formerly known as ''Portrait of Jeanne d’Aragon''
in Anja Grebe, ed. Vincent Pomarède, ''The Louvre: All the Paintings'', New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2011, {{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait of Dona Isabel de Requesens y Enriquez de Cardona-Anglesola Portraits by Raphael 1518 paintings Portraits of women Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists Cardona-Anglesola Paintings by Giulio Romano

History

Description

References

Further reading

External links