Portrait of Charles the Bold

This 1523 portrait attributed to Sebastiano del Piombo shows the artist's range as a portraitist in Rome. Sebastiano had received the lucrative office of the Piombo (keeper of the papal seal) in 1531, which gave him financial security and explains why his later output diminished. His figures carry Venetian sensuous richness combined with the overwhelming physical presence that Michelangelo's influence brought to his Roman works. Sebastiano del Piombo's portraits represent one of the most significant contributions to the genre in the sixteenth century, combining the Venetian colorist tradition in which he was trained (under Giorgione and Titian) with the Roman monumental figure style he absorbed through his close friendship and collaboration with Michelangelo. His portraits have a quality of monumental presence unusual in the portrait format: the sitters occupy their space with an authority derived from the sculptural weight of his figure painting. His ability to synthesize the two dominant traditions of Italian Renaissance painting — Venetian color, Roman form — made him one of the most distinctive portrait painters of his generation.

The portrait displays Sebastiano's characteristic blend of Venetian warmth and Roman gravity, with rich, dark tones and a monumental figure presence that distinguished his portraits from those of other Roman painters.