Maria Martelli, Wife of Baltasar Suares
Artist: Attributed to Giovanni Battista Caccini (Italian, 1556-1613)
Date: about 1590-1599
Dimensions:
H: 27 3/8 in. (67 cm); W: 19 5/8 in. (50 cm); Depth: 6 1/4 in. (16 cm)
Medium: Marble
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1977.37
Label Text:Baltasar Suares was a Portuguese member of the court of Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici in Florence. He rose to even greater prominence when he married Maria Martelli, the sister of Cosimo’s second wife. These marble relief portraits were probably displayed high on a wall of Suares’ palace or in the family chapel. On the underside of each is a cartouche (ornamental frame) carved with the couple’s names and positions—Baltasar is identified as a “bailiff of Florence,” Maria as Baltasar’s wife.
The deeply carved and amazingly thin ruffs of the collars show the technical mastery of the sculptor, as well as creating dramatic plays of light and shadow. Curiously, the two profiles face the same way instead of facing each other, as was standard for husband and wife portraits. These may have been part of a set, paired with two other portraits—perhaps of their children—facing right.
The deeply carved and amazingly thin ruffs of the collars show the technical mastery of the sculptor, as well as creating dramatic plays of light and shadow. Curiously, the two profiles face the same way instead of facing each other, as was standard for husband and wife portraits. These may have been part of a set, paired with two other portraits—perhaps of their children—facing right.
Not on view
In Collection(s)