Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione

This is a copy by Peter Paul Rubens of a renowned portrait of the Italian author and diplomat Baldassare Castiglione. The original was painted by the Renaissance artist Raphael around 1514 and is now in the Louvre museum, Paris. Rubens could have seen it in Italy or Amsterdam, where the painting was by 1630. However, it is more likely that he worked from other copies or prints. Rubens probably painted this work as a homage to the original portrait, but also as a form of artistic rivalry with Raphael.

Courtauld Insight

‘With his piercing blue eyes directed at the viewer, Castiglione appears relaxed and dignified, qualities that he celebrates in his Book of the Courtier (1528). Rubens, who served as a diplomat in several royal courts, must have read this influential manual. Bycopying Raphael’s magnificent portrait of a famous author, Rubens evokes the kinship between visual arts and literature that he cultivated throughout
his life.’

Guido Rebecchini, Reader in 16th-century Southern European Art, The Courtauld