3-044-590 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Self-Portrait, 1731. Additional Info: According to contemporary biographers, Marco Benefial had an imposing appearance and he was proud of it-a testimony supported by this self-portrait. He presented himself with a pen and a sketchbook, the tools of his profession, and he added a Latin inscription in the cartouche. The ornamental border and billowing drapery accentuate his dignified pose, and the loose edges of his open shirt echo the cascading lines of his flowing hair. Benefial made this self-portrait for the Florentine nobleman Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri, who was known for collecting more than a hundred drawn portraits of artists. Gabburri seems to have had a particular interest in self-portraits, requesting them from dozens of his artistic contemporaries.