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16th-century Italy

Works made in Italy in the 16th century.

66 works · hang 5147 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. A work made of pen and brown ink on dark cream laid paper, laid down on laid paper, with pen and ink and gold ruled lines.
    The Flight into EgyptDomenico Campagnola, c. 1540Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Portrait of a Woman as Saint Catherine, by Pier Francesco Foschi, c. 1560
    Portrait of a Woman as Saint CatherinePier Francesco Foschi, c. 1560Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. The image shows a man seated with a slight forward tilt. He is muscular, with one leg bent and the other extended. His head is turned to the left in profile, revealing his facial features, which include a large nose, full beard, and curly hair. He appears naked except for a fabric drape over his shoulders. In his left hand, he holds a staff, and there is a plant with twisting vines near him. The background is a shaded rocky surface with no other details.
    Man Seated Holding a Forked StaffGiovanni Antonio da Brescia, c. 1514/1515Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. A work made of black chalk (recto), and black chalk and pen and black ink (verso), on ivory laid paper.
    Virgin and Child with Saints Peter and John the Baptist (recto); Saint John the Baptist (verso)Pietro d' Asaro, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

First room, south wall

  1. Portrait of Roberto Castiglione, early 1600s
    Portrait of Roberto CastiglioneUnrecorded Italian maker, early 1600sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. The image shows a sketch of a seated bearded figure holding an orb. The figure appears muscular, with a beard merging into long hair. The face is not detailed, and draped fabric covers part of the body. There is no jewelry, and the background is plain.
    Saint JeromeAlessandro Vittoria, 1565/1570Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Bright light from the upper left illuminates two muscular men and a winged angel against a dim landscape in this square painting. They all have pale skin, and the two men have dark brown hair and beards. One man, Jesus, stands ankle-deep in a rippling dark blue stream in the center of the composition facing us with downcast eyes. He is nude except for a white cloth that drapes over one shoulder and is tied around his hips. The other end of the cloth drops into the water. Jesus’s hands are pressed together in prayer at chest-height closer to his right shoulder, to our left. He leans his torso in the other direction and looks down at the water. The second man stands on the riverbank to our right. His body faces our left but his left shoulder, closer to us, dips down so his broad back is angled toward us. His lower body is wrapped in a cobalt-blue garment bordered with what looks like sheepskin. His near hand swings back to clutch the trunk of a tree growing immediately behind him. In his other hand, he holds up a pewter-grey dish that dribbles water onto Jesus’s head. On the left riverbank, the copper-haired angel looks on, facing our right in profile but the body faces us. The angel wears a sleeveless, pumpkin-orange robe with a shimmering salmon-pink mantle draped over the right shoulder, to our left. Petal-pink and dark grey wings extend from the shoulders, and the lower legs and feet are bare. The shadowy landscape has a dark green field stretching back to jagged, sapphire-blue mountains along the horizon, which comes four-fifths of the way up this composition. Pale blue clouds skim across the vivid blue sky, where three chubby, winged babies float. One holds a triangle and a rod with which to strike it, and another might hold a rectangular musical instrument. Blue clouds split nearby to show a sliver of golden yellow light, and possibly more angels.
    The Baptism of ChristParis Bordone, c. 1535/1540Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second room, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on panel.
    Alessandro de' MediciPontormo, (Jacopo Carrucci), 1534–35Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of oil on panel.
    Lucrezia di Lippo di Iacopo GuidiAndrea del Sarto, 1525–28Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Mars and Venus United by Love, by Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari), 1570s
    Mars and Venus United by LovePaolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari), 1570sCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. Two women and a man support the gray, lifeless body of a nearly nude man along a stone ledge in this vertical painting. The people have pale skin, except for the dead man at the center, Jesus, who has ash-white skin with dark shadows around his closed eyes. He has a long straight nose, and his lips are slightly parted. He has a brown beard, and his long, wavy hair falls away from his face. A white cloth wraps across his hips, and blood trickles from a gash over his right ribs and holes in his feet. A woman and man prop him up on either side, each holding Jesus by a limp arm, and each has a faint, gold halo encircling their heads. To our left, the woman holds her face close to his, her brows deeply furrowed and her mouth wide open, teeth showing. Her forehead, chin, and neck are covered by a white veil, worn under navy-blue cloak that covers her head and body. The cloak falls open over one arm and a bent knee to reveal her long-sleeved, lighter blue dress. On Jesus’s other side, a cleanshaven man with curly brown hair holds Jesus’s arm with both hands. The man’s eyes squint with tears as he tips his head toward Jesus. His pink lips are parted, and the corner of the mouth we can see is pulled down. He wears an emerald-green, long-sleeved tunic under a vivid red cloth that wraps around his right arm, waist, and left leg. The fourth and final person is a woman sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped tightly around Jesus’s crossed ankles. She sits with one foot tucked under her body and the other leg out straight. Waist-length, wavy, auburn-brown hair falls freely over her shoulders and across her face, but we can see her downturned, open mouth and nearly closed eyes. She wears a rose-pink dress, cinched at the waist. A brown cloth wraps around her waist and right leg. A cylindrical, lidded, white jar sits on the dirt ground nearby. The group is arranged in front a thigh-high stone ledge, except for the man in green and red, who steps into what is presumably the coffin. A rocky outcropping to our right has a cave-like opening with grasses and growth along the top. The landscape beyond has a dirt path winding between pine-green hills dotted with trees. Two slate-blue buildings perch atop one hill. White clouds float across the blue sky above.
    PietàMoretto da Brescia, 1520sCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Portrait of a Couple, c. 1580–88
    Portrait of a CoupleUnrecorded Italian maker, c. 1580–88Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Two women, a man, and a satyr, a man with goat’s legs, are in two pairs in a forested landscape in this horizontal painting. The pale-skinned women are nude, and their blond hair is tied up and back. One woman sits on a brown boulder to the left of center. One hand covers her groin, and the other hand rests on the satyr’s shoulder. The satyr has deeply tanned skin, short white hair, and a long white beard. A white cloth wraps over one shoulder and across his hips. He holds up an object, perhaps a shell, with one hand. That arm crosses over the woman’s breasts. His other hand is by his lower belly, and he looks at the shell. A bit farther back and to our right, a second nude woman also sits on a boulder. She faces away from us and holds up a long stick with her left arm, which arcs over her body. A clean-shaven, pale-skinned man sits with his back against the boulder. He has long brown hair and looks off to the distance to our right. He wears a carnation-pink robe over a sapphire-blue tunic. His legs splay in front of him, his feet bare, as he holds a bow to a violin-like instrument tucked under his chin. The two pairs sit in a grassy glade occupied also by five pheasant- or peacock-like birds. A thin river running behind the glade is lined with spindly trees that together make an impenetrable bronze-brown and laurel-green canopy. The second woman’s stick points or is directed to a gray, mountain lion-like cat on the far bank. Closer inspection reveals deer and another person, who points, tucked among the trunks. A glimpse of blue sky is visible through a break in the tree trunks.
    OrpheusUnrecorded Italian maker, c. 1515Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Third room, north wall

  1. A young woman with a pale, peachy skin is shown from waist up, wearing a shimmering, royal-blue dress in this vertical painting. Her body is angled to our right as she holds a metal object, perhaps a vessel or incense burner, in her hands by her chest. She turns and tilts her head to our left, but then looks back across her body, off to our right with flint-gray eyes. She has a full, oval-shaped face with a straight nose, smooth cheeks, and her pale pink lips are closed. A gray pearl earring hangs from the ear we can see. Her auburn-brown hair is parted down the middle, and loosely pulled back into a braid that brushes her left shoulder, to our right. The blue dress has a square neckline and a fitted bodice. Light glints off the fabric, shading it from royal to sapphire blue. A voluminous white sleeve is rolled back to her right elbow, to our left. That arm and hand nearly span the width of the painting as she holds the vessel, which has a conical top, near the lower right corner of the composition. The background is solid black.
    Portrait of a Young Woman as a Wise VirginSebastiano del Piombo, c. 1510Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Venus Reclining in a Landscape, by Giulio Campagnola, c. 1508–9
    Venus Reclining in a LandscapeGiulio Campagnola, c. 1508–9Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. The image shows a human figure with wings positioned as though in flight. The figure is captured from a slightly frontal perspective, with the head turned downwards and the right arm outstretched. The facial features are undefined, focusing more on the body's muscular structure. The figure wears a cloth or drapery around the waist and has well-defined muscles on the chest, arms, and legs. Large wings extend out behind the figure, adding to the sense of flight. The background is plain with a light texture.
    A Flying AngelJacopo Palma il Giovane, 1580/1590Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington