The present painting depicts “Paolino portraying Homer”, identified the first time as Paolo Taddei by Cinelli (Bocchi- Cinelli 1677, p. 501): “Homer by Volterrano, Paolino Taddei, well-known blind Florentine portrayed in this guise by this skilled painter”, then repeated by Ewald 1976, p. 345; later instead he was identified as Paolino Magherini by Maria Cristina Cabani (2010, pp. 206-207) – appearing as the great Greek poet, portrayed in his “old age” (Baldinucci states that he lived about one hundred years; see also V, p. 172).
This painting was thought to be lost for years, but was known to exist due to various publications, such as an engraving in the Raccolta di ottanta stampe from the Gerini collection (1786, I, n. XXV) published by Gerhard Ewald (1976, p.345 and fig. 4), and Baldinucci’s essay on the “life” of Coccapani (IV, p. 415). The present painting was discussed in relation to the lunette illustrating Saint Anthony takes away the money from two fake beggars, painted by the in 1613 in the first cloister of St. Mark, painted by Sigismondo. Sigismondo’s painting depicted the two main characters, one of them the then famous “blind Paolino, a pleasant man, famous among the common folk for his tricks with dogs and for the countless songs he composed and played with his guitar”. It is mentioned that this “blind Paolino” was later painted also by Volterrano, dressed as Homer when “he (blind Paolino) was already an old man […] and the result was a beautiful painting”. In the biographical record of Franceschini it is written that, “a Homer with the lyre, portrayed by Paolino, the popular blind beggar” was commissioned to the artist by the Prince Giancarlo de’ Medici (Baldinucci, V, p. 172).
The painting is also documented in the inventory of Cardinal’s collection of paintings, stored in the Castello villa, recorded as “228 number one painting on canvas, 2 and 1/6 fathom tall, about 1 and ½ fathom wide [126.5x87.5 cm] depicting Homer holding a viola in one hand and a book in the other, dressed in a deep blue cloak, with no framing, by Baldassarri” (Barocchi-Gaeta Bertelà 2007, II, pp. 747-748).
After the sale of Giancarlo’s collection ordered by his brother, the Grand Duke Ferdinando II, the painting went into the collection of the Marquess Pier Antonio of the Gerini family, according to Baldinucci (IV, p. 415) and Cinelli (Bocchi-Cinelli, 1677, p. 501). The painting was registered in an inventory from 1733 (ASFi, Gerini 5080, n. 366; cfr Ingendaay 2007, pp. 422, 474; Di Dedda 2008, p. 67) and then engraved at the beginning of the XVIII century, with other important artworks from the family collection. In 1825, the Gerini family listed the painting in the sale catalogue of the family collection (Catalogo e stima 1825, n. 1, “1.19 fathom tall, 1.9 fathom wide”) with an estimate of 30 pure gold coins by professor Bezzuoli.
Apart from the circumstances that determined the passage of the artwork from the noble Florentine family to the next owner, the Medician commission of the canvas – for which no preparatory sketch is known - is reiterated by the presence of the Medici crest engraved in the wooden peg box of the instrument.
Paolino was depicted with a solemn, frowning expression, his hair and long white beard ruffled, his right hand holding an old volume of the Iliad (as we can read on the spine of the book) covered by parchment, and left hand taking up the instrument. His majestic position and strong shoulders, opulent in drapery (the shiny fabric has an evident neo-Venetian look) had the formal and pictorial characteristics that date the artwork to around 1675 (Grassi 2012, pp. 124-125), several years after the death of the Prince Giovan Carlo (January 1663), or maybe just after the artist’s journey to Venice during the spring of 1662, with the entourage of Archduke Ferdinando Carlo of Austria (OP 88). The death of the patron made it impossible to provide a suitable frame for the artwork, which was documented in the inventory of the Cardinal’s property as “senza adornamento”(“with no framing”), compiled on the 9th May 1663 (ivi, p.124 and doc.137).
In any case, the painting was already in the Gerini collection in May 1664; an unpublished document discovered by Maria Cecilia Fabbri certifies the framing of the artwork to the 30th May, paid to the wood carver Giovanni Magni – who also worked for the Great Prince of the Medici family, (Mosco 2007, p. 61; Spinelli 2013, p. 54; R. Spinelli, in Il Gran Principe Ferdinando 2013, pp. 272, n.54, 278, n. 37) – and Bartolomeo Giorgini, paid for a “wood-carved ornament, 2 and ¾ fathom long and 2 and ¼ fathom wide (approx. 160 x 131 cm) used for a painting by Volterrano” for which 70 lire was asked. The client Carlo Gerini, paying with a discount of 14 lire, declared that the framing service was for the canvas with Homer. (ASFi, Gerini, n. 1380, dossier 5, cnn, and invoice dated 29 July 1666) (r.s.).
Bibliography: Baldinucci, IV, p. 415; V, p. 172; G. Cinelli, in Bocchi-Cinelli 1677, p. 501: Serie degli uomini più illustri 1775, p. 17; Raccolta di ottanta stampe 1789, I, n. XXV (the engraving); Catalogo e stima 1825, n. 1; Ewald 1976, p.345, fig. 3; Barocchi-Gaeta Bertelà 2007, II, pp. 747-748; Ingendday 2007, pp. 442,474; Di Dedda 2008, p. 67; Grassi 2012, pp. 124-125; Ingendaay 2013, pp. 330-301.
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