Pamono Workshop of Bartolomeo Schedoni, Portrait of a Child Alessandro Farnese Schedoni, 1630, Oil on Canvas

First half of the 17th century

Oil on canvas
95 x 66 cm – Framed 109 x 80 cm

This intense portrait of a young boy is an interesting work from the workshop of the Modenese painter Bartolomeo Schedoni (Modena 1578 – Parma 1615), active from 1607 at the court of Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza.
This is, in fact, a detail taken from a more complex painting, “The Alms of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary” (1610-11), commissioned by the Farnese family and executed by Schedoni in 1611. In the work, Elizabeth, Queen of Thuringia who lived in the 13th century and was known for her charitable works, is depicted giving alms to the needy.
Our little sibling, placed in the foreground of the original painting, is the protagonist here, looking directly at the viewer, aiming to draw their attention and engage them, a device that often recurs in Schedoni’s paintings.
An interesting interpretation is that the child is an allegory of the young firstborn Alessandro Farnese (born September 5, 1610, ten years after the marriage between Ranuccio and Margherita Aldobrandini), given that on the occasion of the birth, the ducal couple organized celebrations and donations of alms for many days.
The painting would therefore have been commissioned as an ex voto in thanksgiving for the birth of their son: the infant wears a yellow and blue jacket, a clear reference to the Duchy of Parma, while the white slip and the red cord holding the clothes together indicate the intervention of Saint Elizabeth, a Franciscan allegory of charity, who intercedes at the child’s birth.
This could also be an apt interpretation given the depiction of the child, who is certainly not a beggar or an orphan, given his refined and delicate appearance, the care taken with his clothing, his carefully combed blond hair, and his perfect little feet, as well as his regal bearing and the proud gaze with which he gazes intensely at us.

Given the excellent quality of its execution, the proposed work could be by an artist from Bartolomeo Schedoni’s workshop, capable of fully capturing his style and quality: the magic of the painting and the use of light and color, with chiaroscuro effects that accentuate its three-dimensionality, in a truly Baroque style, evoke the ability to create that almost metaphysical atmosphere that made Schedoni a master of great caliber.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with an antique frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity and an iconographic .