Ottavio Leoni and Early Baroque Portraiture in Rome

Ottavio Leoni (Rome, c. 1578-3/ix/1630, Rome) was a painter, engraver and draughtsman. He belonged to both the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon and the Accademia di San Luca, where he served as the Principe for four years and held other offices for many years. Ottavio was further honored with a knighthood in the Cavaliere d'Cristo by Pope Gregory XV for a portrait he made of the pontiff. And although paintings made up a large portion of his artistic production, his portrait drawings and engravings have always been the best known and admired works of his oeuvre. In the seventeenth century, the excellence of Ottavio Leoni's portraits and their verisimilitude to the sitters was remarked on by Giovanni Baglione in his Lives. As far way as Spain, Ottavio Leoni's reputation for portraiture was known to Francisco Pacheco, who commented in his Arte de la Pintura "Hizo Tambien retratos en debuxo el gran Leonardo de Vinchi, Federico Zucaro, Enrique Golzio, el Caballero Josefino, pero quien ha hecho mas estudio en Roma ha sido el Paduano (Ottavio Leoni), no perdonando a ninguna persona puesta en dignidad que no debuxase di lapiz, en papel azul, con su realce, con que adornaba su obrador y por ellos los pintaba de colores despues." In the intervening centuries, the popularity of Leoni's portrait drawings was upheld by collectors and connoisseurs, such as P. J. Mariette (1694-1774, Paris). However, relatively little scholarship accompanied this interest. No comprehensive catalogue of Leoni's works has ever been produced. Consequently, his portraits are often confused with other artists' works. This study clarifies Ottavio Leoni's style, working methods and patronage through the presentation of new biographical material and the compilation of a complete catalogue of all his known drawings.