Portrait Cultures of the Early Modern Cardinal

The visual legacy of early modern cardinals constitutes a vast and extremely rich body of artworks, many of superb quality, in a variety of media, often by well-known artists and skilled craftsmen. Yet cardinal portraits have primarily been analyzed within biographical studies of the represented individual, in relation to the artists who created them, or within the broader genre of portraiture. Portrait Cultures of the Early Modern Cardinal addresses questions surrounding the production, collection, and status of the cardinal portrait, covering diverse geographies and varied media. Examining the development of cardinals' imagery in terms of their multi-layered identities, this volume considers portraits of 'princes of the Church' as a specific cultural phenomenon reflecting cardinals' unique social and political position.

Piers Baker-Bates is a Visiting Research Associate at the Open University. He has published extensively on Sebastiano del Piombo and the cultural relations between Italy and Spain in the sixteenth century, including his monographic study Sebastiano del Piombo and the World of Spanish Rome. Irene Brooke is an Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld. Her research focuses on the art and culture of Renaissance Venice. She has published several articles on the Venetian cardinal, Pietro Bembo, and on the engraver, Giulio Campagnola. She recently edited a volume on portraits of Renaissance cardinals published by AUP.