portrait of Bartolomeo Colleoni

The 1565 Portrait of Bartolomeo Colleoni in Milan's Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco presents a sitter who bore one of the most storied names in northern Italian military history—Bartolomeo Colleoni (1395–1475) was one of the most famous condottieri of the fifteenth century, immortalised in Verrocchio's bronze equestrian statue in Venice. The seventeenth-century Bergamasco Bartolomeo Colleoni painted by Moroni was a descendant sharing the great captain's name and fame. Moroni was deeply embedded in Bergamasco aristocratic society, and the Colleoni family were among its most distinguished members. A portrait painted in 1565 would have presented the living descendant under the shadow of his ancestor's legendary fame, a resonance both the painter and sitter would have been aware of. The Castello Sforzesco is a fitting institutional home for a work connected to the military history of northern Italy.

Oil on canvas with Moroni's observational technique applied to a sitter whose identity carried unusual historical weight. The portrait probably follows his standard format for a male subject of aristocratic standing, with careful attention to costume and the face's individual character. Any martial attributes would carry extra resonance given the Colleoni name's association with military greatness.