Bartolommeo Bonghi by Giovanni Battista Moroni in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2007

Bartolommeo Bonghi (died 1584), shortly after 1553
Giovanni Battista Moroni (Italian, Lombard, born no later than 1524, died 1578)
Oil on canvas; 40 x 32 1/4 in. (101.6 x 81.9 cm)
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1913 (13.177)

The sitter's identity is established by an inscription that was added to the picture following Bonghi's death (the inscription has since been removed but is documented in photographs). A distinguished jurist, Bonghi holds a commentary on Justinian's Pandects (the codification of Roman civil law), which was dedicated to him in 1553 by its author, Camillo Plauzio. The painting seems to date from shortly after this time. Through the window is a view of the Torre Communale of Bergamo.

Moroni was the foremost North Italian portraitist of his time and this picture is one of his finest works.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/europe...