Portrait of Vittoria Farnese

1566 · Private collection

portrait

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.

About the Artist

Giacomo Vighi

1510 – 1573

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.

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