Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione
c. 1514–1515 · Oil on canvas · Musée du Louvre, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Raphael (1483–1520)
- Year
- c. 1514–1515
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 82 × 67 cm
- Collection
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Movement
- Renaissance
The diplomat and writer Baldassare Castiglione, author of The Book of the Courtier, sits turned towards the viewer against a plain warm-grey ground, in a dark doublet trimmed with squirrel fur, a white shirt at his chest, a turban under a notched black beret, his folded hands at the lower edge. Raphael and Castiglione were close friends from their years at the court of Urbino, and the portrait was painted in Rome, probably in the winter of 1514–1515. Castiglione later wrote a poem imagining his wife and son consoling themselves with the picture while he was away. It is one of the few paintings by Raphael on canvas. The portrait was studied by later painters: Titian probably saw it in Mantua, Rubens copied it, and Rembrandt sketched it when it was auctioned in Amsterdam in 1639 and drew on it for his own self-portraits. Louis XIV acquired it from the heirs of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, and it hangs in the Louvre.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A bearded man in grey fur, a black beret and a white shirt against a soft taupe ground, quiet and steady, for a study, library or hallway at 24×36 in black. A warm grey, charcoal or stone wall; it pairs with Self-Portrait at the Age of 34.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (c. 1514–1515)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- intimate
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room, dorm room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
