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Notes
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The date 1514 is just visible on the letter carried by the sitter, although the words are illegible. The inscription in the parapet reads, in primitive French, ‘who loves well is slow to forget’. The sitter wears the Maltese Cross of the Order of Saint John. In 1514 Franciabigio was working for the Order painting a fresco of the Last Supper in their convent in Florence. The prioress who commissioned the fresco from Franciabigio was a Medici, and it has been suggested that the sitter of this portrait is Giulio de’ Medici, who was made a Knight of Rhodes in 1513. After Giulio was made Pope Clement VII, he was personally responsible for securing the island of Malta for the Knights in 1530. However, this identification is uncertain. Franciabigio’s portraits are among his finest works for their immediacy and psychological intensity.
Title
Portrait of a Knight of Rhodes
Date
1514
Medium
Oil on wood
Measurements
H 60.3 x W 45.7 cm
Accession number
NG1035
Acquisition method
Bought, 1878
Work type
Painting
