Ludovico Dondi, tätig 1585 - 1614 in Mantua, zugeschrieben PORTRAIT... Lot 945

Ludovico Dondi, tätig 1585 - 1614 in Mantua, zugeschrieben PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR FLAVIUS DOMITIANUS (51 ROME - 96 IBID.) Oil on copper plate. 19.5 x 15.5 cm. Titled verso on plate. Against a dark background, the half-length portrait of the emperor facing left with a determined expression on his face, dressed in a breastplate and red cloak. Annotation: The original painting, like 11 others in the series, was commissioned from Titian by Duke Federico Gonzaga of Mantua. The twelve portraits of emperors whose deeds were described by Tranquillus Caius Suetonius are mentioned in the 1550 edition of Vasari's Lives as being placed in the antechamber of the Sala di Troia in the ducal palace of Mantua. In 1618, the paintings were sold by Vincenzo Gonzaga to Charles I, taken to England and then transferred to Spain, where they were destroyed in the fire of the Alcazar in 1734. The memory of the works remains in the engravings by Egidio Sadeler (around 1570-1629), in drawings by Jacopo Strada and in numerous copies. (13908163) (18)