Bildnis eines Mannes aus der Familie Santacroce

Salviati's portrait of a member of the Santacroce family, dated around 1545 and at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, depicts a representative of one of Rome's old noble families. The Santacroce, an aristocratic Roman clan with property near the Forum, had connections to the Renaissance papacy and to the humanist culture of sixteenth-century Rome. Salviati's Roman period, extending through multiple sojourns from the early 1530s onward, brought him into contact with exactly this level of Roman aristocratic society, and his portrait commissions from Roman noble families constitute an important part of his career alongside the decorative fresco cycles for the Farnese and other great families. The Kunsthistorisches Museum's multiple Salviati portraits form a coherent picture of his Roman portraiture practice.

Oil on canvas, the aristocratic portrait employs the full range of Salviati's refined technique: smooth, polished surface, cool palette, dark background, and careful study of the sitter's individual features within an idealized Mannerist framework. Costume would signal the sitter's Roman aristocratic status through specific garments and accessories.