DOMENICO CRESTI, called PASSIGNANO
(Passignano 1559 - 1638 Florence)

Portrait of Michelangelo Buonarroti

Oil on canvas
47 ¼ x 37 ½ inches (120 x 95 cm)

Provenance:

Private Collection, Italy.

Exhibited:

“Ri-conoscere Michelangelo: La Scultura del Buonarroti nella Fotografia e nella Pittura dall’Ottocento a Oggi,” Florence, Galleria dell’Accademia, 18 February – 18 May 2014, no. 1.

“Michelangelo and the Ideal Body,” Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 19 June – 24 September 2018, no. 62.

Literature:

Sandro Bellesi, Studi sulla Pittura e sulla Scultura del ‘600–‘700 a Firenze, Florence, 2013, p. 13, fig. 5.

Monica Maffioli and Silvestra Bietoletti, Ri-conoscere Michelangelo: La Scultura del Buonarroti nella Fotografia e nella Pittura dall’Ottocento a Oggi, exh. cat., Florence, 2014, p. 296, cat. no. 1.

Ludovica Sebregondi and Takashi Iizuka, Michelangelo and the Ideal Body, exh. cat., Tokyo, 2018, p. 150, cat. no. 62.

This Portrait of Michelangelo Buonarroti by the Florentine Baroque artist Domenico Cresti, called Passignano, is a tribute to the man many consider the greatest artist of all time. Prominent n the background is the profile of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican (designed by Michelangelo in 1546, after the death of the architect Giuliano da Sangallo), while on the table next to the sitter there is a model of the marble figure of Day, which adorns the tomb of Giuliano de Medici in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo Florence. The artist himself, dressed in an elegant black velvet tunic trimmed with fur to indicate his high status, holds a compass in his right hand and a palette with brushes in the left. He is allegorically represented as the one who excelled in all arts: painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Known as Passignano after his birthplace, Domenico Cresti trained in the Florentine studios of the painters Girolamo Macchietti and Giambattista Naldini. The influence of Federico Zuccaro, whom he assisted on the decoration of the cupola of the Duomo in Florence in the second half of the 1570s, was of particular significance for the young artist. Passignano accompanied Zuccaro to Rome in 1579 and soon afterwards to Venice, where he spent several years and where his careful study of such local painters as Tintoretto is reflected in his own paintings throughout his later career.

On his return to Florence at the end of the 1580s, Passignano contributed to the temporary decorations created for the wedding of Ferdinando de’ Medici and Christina of Lorraine, as well as painted frescoes for the Cappella Salviati in the church of San Marco. He was admitted into the Accademia del Disegno in 1589, and was soon earning important ecclesiastical commissions in Florence, including the Preaching of Saint John the Baptist for San Michele Visdomini, as well as frescoes for the Medici Villa at Artimino and altarpieces for churches in Lucca, Pistoia, and Pisa. In the late 1590s he painted two large murals on slate, depicting scenes from the life of Cosimo I de’ Medici, for the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio.

Established as one of the leading painters in Florence, Passignano was summoned to Rome in 1602 to paint a large altarpiece for St. Peter’s. He remained in the city for thirteen years, receiving commissions from such important patrons as Pope Paul V, Scipione Borghese, Maffeo Barberini, and Pietro Aldobrandini, as well as working at the Churches of Sant’Andrea della Valle and Santa Maria Maggiore. Returning to Florence in 1616, his successful career continued with numerous projects for churches and palaces, including work for the Medici at the Palazzo Pitti and elsewhere. Although Passignano again worked for some time in Rome in the mid-1620s, he spent his last decade living in Florence and remaining closely associated with the Accademia del Disegno.

According to Dr. Sandro Bellesi, our portrait can be dated to first or the second decade of the 17th century through a comparison with other dated works by Passignano such as the Deposition of Christ purchased by Scipione Borghese in 1612 and now in the Galleria Borghese (Fig. 1). The painting is therefore a work painted during the Roman period of the artist and testifies to Passignano’s deep bond with the Florentine and Roman artistic tradition, although in his career he was greatly influenced by Venetian painting.

Passignano’s connection with Michelangelo continued with his participation in the decoration of the house of Michelangelo’s nephew, Michelangelo Buronarroti the Younger, the Casa Buonarroti. Among the paintings commissioned by the most famous artists of the day was Passignano’s 1618 ceiling painting Michelangelo Presenting the Model of St. Peter to Pius IV (Fig. 2).