{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O136682"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O136682/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KA7397/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KA7397/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017KA7397","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O136682/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O136682","accessionNumber":"A.74-1910","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Portrait of a Man","type":"generic title"},{"title":"Man in Armour","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This portrait bust represents a nobleman and is made in Lombardy in ca. 1560-1580.\rThe base is modern and with its inscription 'FER. GONZAGA MCCCCCXXXVI' led to the wrong assumption that the portrait represented Ferrante Gonzaga (1506-57), Prince of Guastalla.\rThe form of the bust, tapering to a point at the bottom of the breastplate, and the carving of detail suggest a connection with the workshop of Leone Leoni.\rRenaissance noblemen liked to portray themselves as both classical heroes and fashionable men-at-arms. This unidentified sitter wears rounded pauldrons (shoulder guards) and a pointed peascod breastplate copied from contemporary doublets. The sculptor has imitated the etched bands of ornament inspired by Islamic designs popular on north Italian armour\rof the 1570s.\r\n\rLeone Leoni (1509-1590) was an Italian sculptor with an international perspective. Amongst others, he received commissions by the Habsburg monarch Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Spain's Philip II.\rIt is probable that Leone's formative years were spent training as a goldsmith in Venice or Padua. After 1533 he is recorded with his wife and son in Venice and he later lived in Rome. In 1542 he moved to Milan, where his career as a coiner and medallist flourished. He went to Brussels to propose to Charles V to erect an equestrian portrait to the emperor in Milan. Charles V gave him a house in Milan and knighted him. After that he spent 7 years working on imperial commissions in Milan. The death of Charles V shifted his patronage from Spain back to Italy, where Michelangelo recommended him to Pope Pius IV, who then commissioned him to erect a tomb for the Pope's brother Gian Giacomo de' Medici in Milan Cathedral. Completed in 1563, this is one of his most important works. He was also well known for his art collection, plaster casts, paintings and sculpture.","physicalDescription":"The sitter is depicted in half-length in a frontal pose. He has a moustache and beard and close cropped hair. He wears a richly engraved peascod breastplate with pauldrons. A shirt protrudes from beneath the breastplate. Around his neck he has a ruff. The arms are cut off above the elbow.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Leoni, Leone","id":"A6597"},"association":{"text":"workshop","id":"x28708"},"note":"possibly"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"carved marble","categories":[{"text":"Arms & Armour","id":"THES48992"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2017KA7397"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"62 (VA)","id":"THES49739"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":""}],[{"text":"Portrait","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Lombardy","id":"x29366"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":"possibly"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1570-1580","earliest":"1570-01-01","latest":"1580-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Salting bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"90.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"66","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"32","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'FER. GONZAGA'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"'MCCCCCXXXVI'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"The name of the sitter is inscribed on the front of the base, while the date is scratched on its right side. Nevertheless, the base is modern and its inscriptions are unlikely to be related to the bust."}],"objectHistory":"From the Salting bequest.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust, marble, a man in armour, possibly workshop of Leone Leoni, Italy (Lombardy), ca. 1560-80","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. <u>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture</u>, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 111"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pope-Hennessy, John. <u>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume II: Sixteenth to Twentieth Century</u>, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 561"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'Salting Bequest (A.70 to A.1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A.1030 to A.1096-1910)'. In: <u>List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture)</u>. London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 1"}],"production":"The base with the inscription is modern.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"man","id":"x35641"},{"text":"armour","id":"AAT36745"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["A.74-1910"],"accessionNumberNum":"74","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1910,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LW0978"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2007-06-29","availableToBook":false}}