COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 



225 



THE FOCIU.ON. 

 See page 229. 



THE LEFOBT. 



No. 10. THE ORCHI PORTRAIT (plate v). 



There is in possession of Dr. Alessandro di Orchi, of Como, Italy, a portrait bearing 

 the inscription: &quot;Columbus Lygur Xovo Orbis Reptor/ which is believed by many 

 competent critics to be the original of the Giovian collection. According to Dr. di 

 Orchi, the villa of Paolo Giovio was sold in 1600 to his 

 nephew, Francisco Giovio, and thirteen years later the 

 art collection was divided among the sons of the pur 

 chaser. Most of the pictures remained in the possession 

 of the heirs of the eldest brother of the family, including 

 the portrait of Columbus, and this was passed down, 

 from father to sou, until the last of the male line, Paolo 

 Giovio, dying in 1849 without direct descendants, the 

 picture of Columbus was inherited by his sister, Antonia 



Giovio, the wife of Dr. 

 Alessandro di Orchi, its 

 present owner. It has a 

 striking resemblance to 

 that in the museum in 

 Florence. It bears no 

 signature, but has been 

 attributed to both Sebas- 



tian del Piombo and Bartolombo Suardo. Piombo 

 could not have painted Columbus from life, as he was 

 only 21 years old when the latter died, and at the date 

 of the alleged visit of the great navigator to Rome he 

 was 12 years of age and still living at Venice, where 

 he was born in 1485. He removed to Rome a few years 

 later, became a pupil of Michael Angelo, and was a 

 rival of Rafael. He might have painted the Giovian 



portrait, for the Archbishop employed the best artists to contribute to his collection ; 

 but if so it was a copy or made from verbal descriptions. Bartolombo Suardo, or 

 Suardi, also called Bramantiuo, was 

 contemporary with Columbus, al 

 though a younger man, and reached 

 his greatest fame in 1620. He was 

 working at Rome in 1513 when the 

 archbishop of Nocera was living. Dr. 

 Fossati, who has given the subject con 

 siderable study, suggests that the por 

 trait was painted in Rome, after an 

 original sketch obtained from Barthol 

 omew Columbus, who visited that city 

 to intercede with the Pope in 1505. Or 

 it may have been painted at the order 

 of Giovio, who was frequently asso 

 ciated with Ferdinand, the son of 

 Christopher Columbus, while he was 

 in Rome in 1512. 



No. 11. THE LOREXZO LOTTO FOR- 

 TRAIT (plate vi). 



This portrait, which is recognized by 

 experts to be as nearly authentic as any 



that exists, is believed to have been painted for Domeuico Malipiero, a Venetian sen ator 

 and historian, at the instance of his correspondent, Angelo Trevisan (Trivigiano), 

 secretary to the ambassador sent to Spain by the Venetians in 1501, and who was in 

 H. Ex. 100 15 



THE ZEAKING. 

 Sie page 229. 



