Attributed to Giovanni Maria delle Piane, called Mulinaretto

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Description

Giovanni Maria delle Piane, called Mulinaretto
Portrait of Francesco I Farnese (1678-1727), Duke of Parma, three-quarter length and wearing armour
inscribed upper left: FRANCESCO I. FARNESE DUCA/ DI PARMA N. 1678. M. 1727.
oil on canvas, in a carved and gilt wood Italian cassetta frame

Provenance

Acquired by the father of the present owner;
Thence by descent.

Catalogue Note

Mulinaretto gained a reputation as a portraitist in Genoa, where he worked for aristocratic families such as the Durazzo, Brignole and Doria. His fame spread to Parma, where he was summoned by the Duke Francesco Farnese in 1695. According to the biographer Carlo Giuseppe Ratti the artist painted portraits of the Duke and his wife during his brief sojourn there, and returned to Parma three years later, again on the instigation of the Duke. Mulinaretto is recorded in Parma once more, between 1706 and 1708, and he is known to have painted portraits of the Duke and his family during that stay as well. This portrait is more likely to date from the latter stay, given that the Duke is shown as a man closer to thirty years of age rather than twenty.