The portrait of Ranuccio Farnese

The painting portrays Ranuccio II Farnese (1630-1694), the eldest son of Odoardo and Margherita de' Medici, who was destined very young, in 1646, to succeed his father as the 6th Duke of Parma and Piacenza for almost 50 years; his life was marked by three marriages and by the birth of 16 children, only 6 of whom survived. The figure of the Duke, depicted near a column, stands out against the background of a large curtain that opens onto the sky. Despite his age, Ranuccio was just over 30 years old at the time, but his body was weighed down by fatness. He's wearing a French-style costume consisting of a short doublet, almost a bolero, with open sleeves to show the voluminous puffs of the shirt, and the so-called rhingrave or "walker": a sort of knee-length skirt-trouser, with a very low crotch, curled and finished at the waist with flounces and ribbons, called “gabbadas”. The large organza collar with finely embroidered edges and tassels rests flat on the shoulders.