Description
The glittering embroidery on the sitter's ermine-trimmed jacket recalls 17th-century Polish uniforms and suggests that he may have been a member of a visiting delegation to Rome.
Born and trained in Genoa, Baciccio, once in Rome, became a protégé of the great sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who helped him obtain commissions. The open, upturned hand is a gesture associated with conversation, in this case, presumably with the viewer. This, along with the way the sitter leans slightly to one side, gives the portrait a sense of spontaneity that recalls Bernini's lively style.
For more information on this portrait, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 325, p. 452.
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