The ''Portrait of Andrea Doria as Neptune'' (Italian: ''Ritratto di Andrea Doria in veste di Nettuno'') is an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

on canvas completed by

Bronzino Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( it, Il Bronzino ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or reddis ...

for a private collection in either the 1530s or 1540s. It is now in the Pinacoteca di Brera in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy. An

on canvas, it measures by . In a conscious revival of the convention in classical sculpture of showing important political figures in

heroic nudity Heroic nudity or ideal nudity is a concept in classical scholarship to describe the un-realist use of nudity in classical sculpture to show figures who may be heroes, deities, or semi-divine beings. This convention began in Archaic and Clas ...

, it depicts the Genoan admiral,

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

, posing as the classical god of the sea,

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

Description

The subject of the painting is

, a Renaissance ''condottiero'' and

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, who was also the effective ruler of the city-state. He was around sixty when the portrait was painted (the date is somewhat disputed); either way his physique hardly reflects his age at the time. He chose to be depicted nude as the "God of the Sea". Although Doria is depicted naked, he is not fragile or frail. He is depicted as a powerful virile man, showing masculine spirit, strength, vigor, and power. He is stern and resolute, looking calmly over all that he surveys, yet also refined and mannered. The picture was meant to symbolize Doria's power, success, and fame as a celebrated admiral of his time. His beard is lengthy, flowing like the waves on the sea, and tufts of hair on his head recall the Roman emperors. Although his body is aged, his skin is still supple. He originally held a squared

oar An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...

, a symbol of his command over his own fleet, but a

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

head – described by art critic

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultur ...

as "cartoonish" – was painted over it by an unknown artist. The outline of the original oar is still faintly visible. The same individual probably added Doria's name. Doria is holding a piece of sailcloth which barely covers his genitals and exposes some of his

pubic hair Pubic hair is terminal body hair that is found in the genital area of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs and sometimes at the top of the inside of the thighs. In the pubic region around the pubis bon ...

. Paglia asserts that his taut, yet somewhat portly, stomach appears to direct its strength into Doria's covered penis. She finds the innuendo of an erection in the stiff wood of the trident and mast. Jonathan Jones of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' describes the painting as "consciously equat ngnaval and sexual prowess". Doria stands on the deck of his ship, as

would upon his chariot. Behind him is a black, "oppressive" sky, but he is highlighted as if by a full moon or the lightning of an approaching storm. He stands in a strained manner, his head facing to the right but his thighs and buttocks remaining in profile. Through the allegory to Neptune, Doria – "a conqueror of the forces of Nature" through his work – is connected to the mythological powers. He becomes Neptune, ruler of the oceans.

Doria

Andrea Doria was born into an aristocratic family who had been wealthy political leaders of the Genoan republic since 1134, together with another influential family, the

Spinola Spinola is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Agostino Spinola (d. 1537), Italian cardinal * Alberto Spinola (born 1943), Italian water polo player * Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases (1569–1630), Genoese banker an ...

. He was orphaned at an early age. Aged about sixty when this portrait was completed, Doria was famous as a naval commander. For several years, he scoured the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

in command of the Genoese fleet, waging war on the Turks and the Barbary

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. Although he was wealthy himself, Doria entered the service of King

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, who made him captain-general. On the expiration of his contract with Francis in 1528, Doria entered the service of Emperor Charles V. As imperial admiral, he commanded several expeditions against the Turks. He was generally successful and perpetually active in military assignments from a very early age until he was over eighty, and he was especially successful at sea. Through his military successes he gained power, wealth, weapons, equipment and land, taking war booty from his enemies; this was the general method by which the Genoese nobles gained power and influence. In 1528, Doria's fleet won a victory over the French and drove them from Genoa; Doria became the new ruler. Even at the age of 84, he was leading military operations against the pirates in the waters of Genoa.

Creation and provenance

Bronzino's so-called "allegorical portraits", such as this Genoese admiral, are not representative of his art, or of contemporary portrait painting in general, but are possibly more captivating due to the eccentricity of depicting a publicly recognized personality as a nude mythical figure. In painting Doria, he may have been inspired by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

's 1503 sketch of Poseidon and his horses. The painting was commissioned for Paolo Giovio, bishop and retired papal physician, who lived near

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

, and was perhaps completed around 1530. Giovo developed a "Museum of Famous Men" of commissioned portraits. Contemporary prints of the work provide documentary evidence for how it originally looked. There is a second version in the Villa Doria in Genoa, where Doria holds an oar rather than a trident; this seems to have been the original intention in the Milan painting.Gáldy, 64

References

* Gáldy, Andrea M, ''Agnolo Bronzino: Medici Court Artist in Context'', 2014, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, , 9781443866354 {{Portal bar, Italy, Visual arts Doria, Andrea as Neptune Doria, Andrea as Neptune 1530 paintings Doria, Andrea as Neptune Doria, Andrea as Neptune Doria, Andrea as Neptune Paintings in the collection of the Pinacoteca di Brera Neptune (mythology)

Description

Doria

Creation and provenance

See also

References