_Italian School_ (16th century).
_See also_ (p. xx)
Painted on copper, a material which seems first to have been used for
painting in the School of Antwerp. M. Auguste Cartan, of Besançon, in
a paper by him in the _Courrier de l'Art_ (June 25, 1886), points out
the resemblance between this portrait and one, also on copper, in the
museum at Besançon, ascribed to Scipione Pulzone, surnamed Gaetano
(1550-1558), a painter who has been called "the Van Dyck of the Roman
School." A contemporary biographer speaks of Gaetano's portraits as
being so conscientious that every hair is painted, and of his skill in
rendering various stuffs; both these characteristics may be observed
in the present picture. In the same paper M. Cartan identifies the
Cardinal as Cardinal Sirleto, Librarian of the Vatican 1570-1585, and
tutor of S. Carlo Borromeo. There is a bust of Cardinal Sirleto in the
church of San Lorenzo at Rome, and M. Cartan declares the resemblance
between the bust and this portrait to be unmistakable. There is also
in the Corsini Palace at Rome a bust portrait of the same personage by
Scipione Gaetano.