Portrait of Bindo Altoviti

Portrait of Bindo Altoviti

Artist	Raphael
Year	1512–1515
Type	oil on wood
Dimensions	60 cm × 44 cm (24 in × 17 in)
Location	National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The Portrait of Bindo Altoviti is a painting finished around 1515 by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It is housed in the National Gallery of Art of Washington, D.C., United States.

Bindo Altoviti was a rich banker born in Rome in 1491, but of Florentine origin. He was a cultured man who liked the arts.

The graceful, almost effeminate position of the subject along with the heavy contrast between light and shadow are atypical of Raphael's work, particularly of his portraits of men, demonstrating the artist's experimentation with different styles and forms in his later Roman period. The influence of the works of Leonardo, which Raphael studied astutely during this period of his career, is strikingly evident in this particular piece.

The painting was a property of Altoviti’s descendants until 1808, when it was sold to Ludwig I of Bavaria. It remained at the Alte Pinakothek until 1936, when, after many debates about its attribution, the painting was lured out of Nazi Germany by "canny English dealers".^[1] Acquired by Samuel Henry Kress, the portrait subsequently became property of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C..

A bronze bust of Altoviti by Benvenuto Cellini is exhibited in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.^[2]

References

Further reading

• Media related to Portrait of Bindo Altoviti by Raphael at Wikimedia Commons
• David Brown and Jane Van Nimmen. Raphael and the Beautiful Banker: The Story of the Bindo Altoviti Portrait. Yale University Press, 2005.

Raphael
Early works	The Kinnaird Resurrection Baronci Altarpiece St. Sebastian Oddi Altar Solly Madonna Mond Crucifixion Three Graces St Michael Portrait of a Man Connestabile Madonna Madonna and Child The Marriage of the Virgin Vision of a Knight St George Colonna Altarpiece Portrait of Perugino 1 Madonna and Child with the Book
Florentine period	Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga 2 Portrait of Emilia Pia da Montefeltro 2 Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro Self-portrait Madonna of the Grand Duke Ansidei Madonna Young Man with an Apple Christ Blessing Madonna Terranuova Madonna of the Goldfinch Madonna of the Meadow Esterhazy Madonna Small Cowper Madonna St George and the Dragon La donna gravida Portrait of Agnolo Doni Portrait of Maddalena Doni Madonna of the Pinks Young Woman with Unicorn Madonna with Beardless St Joseph Saint Catherine of Alexandria Canigiani Holy Family La belle jardinière Deposition of Christ Portrait of a Young Woman Tempi Madonna Madonna Colonna Madonna de Bogota
Roman period	Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese La disputa The School of Athens Madonna of Loreto Aldobrandini Madonna Madonna with the Blue Diadem Portrait of a Cardinal Alba Madonna Niccolini-Cowper Madonna The Parnassus Cardinal and Theological Virtues The Prophet Isaiah The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple Portrait of Pope Julius II Madonna of Foligno Madonna with the Fish Triumph of Galatea Sistine Madonna Madonna della seggiola Madonna dell'Impannata Madonna della tenda The Fire in the Borgo The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila Deliverance of Saint Peter The Mass at Bolsena Portrait of Bindo Altoviti The Sibyls Ecstasy of St. Cecilia Portrait of Balthasar Castiglione La donna velata Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami Palazzo Branconio dell'Aquila Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici Creation of the World Transfiguration Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary The Holy Family of Francis I Ezekiel's Vision St. Michael Vanquishing Satan Madonna of the Rose Self-portrait with a friend La fornarina Visitation Portrait of a Young Man Miraculous Draught of Fishes Christ's Charge to Peter Healing of the Lame Man Death of Ananias Stoning of St. Stephen Conversion of the Proconsul Sacrifice at Lystra St Paul in Prison St Paul Preaching in Athens Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia
1 Also attributed to Lorenzo di Credi 2 Attributed