Rubens, Ritratto di Gio Carlo Doria, Palazzo Spinola, Genova

Giovanni Carlo Doria (1576–1625) (also Gio, Gian, or Giovan) was a Genoese art collector and mecenas. A son of

Agostino Doria Agostino Doria (Genoa, 1540 - Genoa, December 1, 1607) was the 83rd Doge of the Republic of Genoa. Biography Son of Giacomo Doria and Bettina De Franchi, he was born in Genoa around 1540. The family, extremely wealthy, descendant of the Admira ...

doge of Genoa The Doge of Genoa ( lij, Dûxe, ; la, Januensium dux et populi defensor, "Commander of the Genoese and Defender of the People") was the ruler of the Republic of Genoa, a city-state and soon afterwards a maritime republic, from 1339 until the s ...

in 1601-1603, he was a prominent member of one of the richest and most influential families of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

; his brother

Giovanni Stefano Doria Giovanni Stefano Doria (Genoa, 1578 - Genoa, 1643) was the 101st Doge of the Republic of Genoa. Career On July 5, 1633, the Grand Council chose Giovanni Stefano Doria to lead the highest office in the state, the fifty-sixth in two-year succe ...

(1578-1641) became the 101st doge of Genoa (1633-1635) and was considered the richest man in Italy in his day. Giovanni Carlo was married to Veronica Spinola, daughter of

Ambrogio Spinola Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569-25 September 1630) was an Italian ''condottiero'' and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. He i ...

. He was given the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

. His collection of 463 paintings was partly legated to this elder brother

Marcantonio Doria Marcantonio Raimondi, often called simply Marcantonio (c. 1470/82 – c. 1534), was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists largely of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figu ...

(born 1572) after the death of Giovanni, and elements of it would stay in the possession of the family for centuries. Three inventories of the collection are known, one from 1617, a revised one from ca. 1621, and one from after his death in 1625. One piece in it is a "Cavalry Battle" by Leonardo da Vinci, now known as the "Tavola Doria" and considered a copy by Leonardo of part of his own lost " Battle of Anghiari" fresco. Other painters represented in his collection included works by Northern artists like Jan Brueghel I, Jan Brueghel II,

Antony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

, Lucas van Leyden, and

Jan Wildens Jan Wildens (1586 in Antwerp – 16 October 1653 in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman specializing in landscapes. His Realist landscapes show an eye for detail and have a serene character. He was a regular collaborator with Ruben ...

, but also some older Italian artists like the portrait of his uncle

Nicolò Doria Nicolò Doria (Genoa, 1525 – Genoa, 13 October 1592) was the 72nd Doge of the Republic of Genoa. Biography Son of Giacomo Doria and Bettina De Mari, and member of the wealthy Doria family, he was born in Genoa presumably around 1525. On 20 Oc ...

Jacopo Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

, and works by

Giorgione Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic qualit ...

Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ear ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

, and Veronese. His portrait was painted by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

in 1606. The same year Rubens painted a seated portrait of his wife Veronica as well. In the 1620s,

Simon Vouet Simon Vouet (; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France. He and his studio of artists created religious and m ...

was employed by Doria and among a number of large-scale paintings also made a portrait of him, which now resides in the Louvre. He also ordered paintings from

Giulio Cesare Procaccini Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1574–1625) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the early Baroque era in Milan. Biography Born in Bologna he was son of the Mannerist painter Ercole Procaccini the Elder and brother of Camillo Procaccini and Car ...

and

Giovanni Battista Paggi Giovanni Battista Paggi (27 February 1554 – 12 March 1627) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and writer. His style spans the Late-Renaissance and early- Baroque. Life He was born in Genoa into the well-to-do family of his father Pellegrino. ...

and was a patron for young artists like

Giulio Benso Giulio Benso (30 October 1592 – 1668) was a Genovese painter of the early Baroque. He is known as one of the followers of the style of Luca Cambiasi. Benso was born in Pieve di Teco. Initially under the patronage of Giovanni Carl Doria, he ...

. Doria founded the Genoese Accademia del Nudo in his own palazzo in Genoa.

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading