Santi di Tito (Sansepolcro 1536 – Florence 1603), Half-length portrait of a noblewoman with a book in her hand

Santi di Tito (Sansepolcro, 1536 – Florence, 1603)
Portrait of a noblewoman, half-length, with a book in her hand

XVI century

oil on panel (75 x 61 cm – with frame 115 x 101 x 10 cm.)

provenance:
Private collection, Switzerland
Vienna Palais Dorotheum, 10.11.2020, lot 13 (Estimate: Eur 40.000-60.000)
URL: https://www.dorotheum.com/it/l/6937663/

The qualitative portrait proposed was attributed by Carlo Falciani (on the occasion of the passage at Dorotheum auction in 2020) to the painter Santi di Tito, not only one of the most influential personalities of the Florentine artistic scene, but also the most interesting citizen portraitist of the second half of the sixteenth century.

The scholar has in particular proposed a dating towards the end of the 1570s, that is, the period coinciding with the most fruitful and happy years of the Florentine painter: Santi di Tito in fact contributed to the overcoming of late Mannerism, in the name of the recovery of a realism of classicist and neo-fifteenth-century sign.

The attribution of this portrait to the painter appears immediately evident from the unmistakable oval and firm design of the face, rendered with a complexion with compact pink tones, which retain a notation of light and natural sensitivity in line with the dictates of the Counter-Reformation, of which the painter was one of the most faithful supporters on the Florentine scene.

Always typical of his style is the firm and volumetric representation of the dress, finely defined in the small carvings of the embroidery, but at the same time typically simplified in the sleeves and the bust; also the luministic notation with which the design is highlighted through compact but thin and transparent layers, or the wide white ruff that gives a clear light to the entire painting are his distinctive signature.

As suggested by the scholar, we can compare our painting to the ''Portrait of Guido Guardi with his sons'' [1], from a private collection, executed between 1564 and 1568 and exhibited at the exhibition Il Cinquecento a Firenze (Palazzo Strozzi 2017-2018, n. IV. 5, pp. 156-157); in this, even in a male portrait, Santi di Tito uses the same formal style in the rendering of the faces and ruffs. Also in this portrait, the solid volume and the powerful figure of the character are set on a monochrome background, close to that of Guido Guardi with his sons.

Santi di Tito trained in Florence in Bronzino's workshop, from whom he learned a predilection for rounded and luminous volumes, to which was added an attention to compositional clarity and naturalism imposed by the dictates of the Counter-Reformation, which led him to study the style of Scipione Pulzone and the Zuccari, whom he met both in Florence and during his stay in Rome.

As the years passed, the character of Bronzino's influence increasingly oriented itself in favor of a softer and more sensitive painting, with increasingly natural results, to which our Portrait of a Woman seems to belong.

Judging by the level of his commissions, Santi di Tito became one of the most important Florentine portraitists of his time, and this role derives precisely from his pictorial ability and his interest in naturalistic elements, combined with the wisdom of Florentine drawing tradition, which placed him as the natural heir, like Allori, of the path opened by Bronzino.

[1] Santi di Tito (Florence 1563-1603) Portrait of Guido Guardi with his sons
1564/68-1570/80, oil on panel, 98,4 x 75 cm. – Private collection

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with a pleasant golden frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.

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