Portrait of Gabriele di Pietro Emo, Procurator of San Marco
Portrait of Gabriele di Pietro Emo, Procurator of San Marco
- Artist
- Jacopo Tintoretto
- Artist Dates
- 1518/1519-1594
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Title
- Portrait of Gabriele di Pietro Emo, Procurator of San Marco
- Date
- 1572
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 116.7 x 90.8 cm (45-7/8 x 35-3/4 in)
- K Number
- K1801
- Repository
- Seattle Art Museum
- Accession Number
- 61.171
- Notes
Provenance
Rt. Hon George Augustus Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck [1821-1891], London, by 1876; [1] (his sale Christie's, London, 11 July 1891, no. 618, probably bought in); Arthur James; [2] Mrs. Arthur James, née Mary Venetia Cavendish-Bentinck [d. 1948], London and Warwickshire; (her sale, Christie's, London, 15 October 1948, no. 113); (Nicholls). (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi [1878-1955], Rome-Florence); sold to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation on 1 July 1950; gift 1961 to the Seattle Art Museum, no. 61.171. [1] Lent to the Old Masters exhibition, Royal Academy, London, 1876, no. 127 as Venetian Naval Officer by Tintoretto. [2] Lent by Arthur James to the exhibition of Venetian Art, New Gallery, London, 1894-95.
Catalogue Entry
Jacopo Tintoretto
Portrait of Gabriele di Pietro Emo, Procurator of San Marco
K1801
Seattle, Wash., Seattle Art Museum (It 37/T4987.1), since 1954.(1) Canvas. 45 7/8 x 35 3/4 in. (116.7 x 90.8 cm.). Inscribed at upper right: GABRIEL EMO PETRI FIL. BRIXIE PRAEFECTUS AN. 1572. Good condition. The style of K1801 corresponds to that of other portraits classified in the period of Tintoretto's oeuvre(2) indicated by the date on this canvas, 1572. Comparison may be made with, for example, the portraits of Doge Mocenigo and family in K1964. Like the bearded man standing at the left in the latter painting, Gabriele Emo is shown in the robes of a Venetian procurator. The inscription indicates that this Gabriele Emo (1531/36-1587),(3) son of Pietro, was at this time, 1572, also Prefect of Brescia. Compared with such a splendid portrait as K1658 (Fig. 95), of about the same date, the weakness of K1801 would seem to indicate much studio assistance in the execution. Provenance: Rt. Hon. George Augustus Frederick Cavendish Bentinck, London –exhibited: 'Old Masters,' Royal Academy, London, 1876, no. 127 (presumably), as Venetian Naval Officer, by Tintoretto. Cavendish Bentinck Sale, Christie's, London, July 11, 1891, no. 618, as Portrait of Gabriel Emo [sic], by Tintoretto. Arthur James, London –exhibited: 'Venetian Art,' New Gallery, London, 1894-95. Mrs. Arthur James, London (sold, Christie's, London, Oct. 15, 1948, no. 113, as Tintoretto; bought by Nicholls). Contini Bonacossi, Florence. Kress acquisition, 1950 –exhibited: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1950-53.(4)
References
(1) Catalogue by W. E. Suida, 1954, p. 50, as Tintoretto. (2) K1801 has been attributed to Tintoretto by R. Longhi (in ms. opinion) and B. Berenson (Italian Pictures ... Venetian School, vol. I, 1957, p. 178, and earlier editions). P. de Vecchi (Tintoretto, 1970, no. 195) enters K1801 as usually attributed to Tintoretto. See also note 1, above. (3) This date has been established by A. Contini Bonacossi, catalogue of the Columbia Museum of Art, 1962, p. 54. (4) Suida, in Philadelphia Museum Bulletin, vol. XLVI, 1950, p. 14, as Tintoretto.