Justis Sustermans
Flemish, 1597-1681 (active Italy)
Portrait of Carlos Radia, 1639
oil on canvas
26 7/8 x 22 in.
SBMA, Gift of M/M Richard Reed Armstrong
1983.9
Portrait of Justus Sustermans, Anthony van Dyck, 1645 – 1646
RESEARCH PAPER
The Painting:
"Carlos Radia (Carlo Raggia), (1623—1699) was 17 3/4 at the time of the completion of the painting. He was the son of Maurizio, a hat merchant originally from Genoa. Carlos was made a noble by the Duke Ranuccio Farnes on October 28, 1678. He was a member of the Consiglio Generale di Piacenza in 1680. "With his family he moved to the parish of SS.Giacomo and Filippo, where he built a beautiful home and assembled a modest art collection." (Giorgio Fiori in "La Antiche Famiglie de Piacenza e i loro stemmi", Piacenza 1979, Pg. 355) He died in 1699." (Source: Arisi letter in museum file.)
He is dressed most fashionably in the rich, elegant and dignified style f his time. Patterned after Charles I, his hair is long, soft and free, drooping in languid tresses over his shoulder, a short fringe delicately covers the forehead. His "lovelock", a lock of hair brought forward from the nape of the neck, is tied with a scarlet rosette, in the style of a cavalier, and again, very much the fashion. The deep "falling ruff" collar, or whisk, covering the shoulders in scallops of punto-in-aria lace frames the face, focusing attention on the fine features, the delicately blushing cheek, the full red lips. Black was the favorite color in dress for men, and his doublet, probably velvet, has "panes", the parallel slashings in material to allow the fine silk shirt underneath to show through. His left shoulder is not visible, but most probably he is wearing a casually draped cloak. Ribbons were the newest method of ornamentation, replacing jewels and embroidery in all but the most formal of court fashions, and bunches of them were used at the knee. His would be scarlet. His costume is splendid and highly attractive, so is he. With the corners of his lips slightly upturned, and the confident gaze of his warm brown eyes, Carlos has an air of aristocratic gentility and self-assured elegance. It is a look of his times.
The painting itself can be described as luscious. The warm, glowing colors, the delicate brushwork in the lace, the subtle shading of the face, the sense of animation accomplished by turning the pose, all show the hand of a master painter.
In addition to being a beautiful portrait, the painting is an historical document as well. There is an inscription on the back of the stretcher giving the sitter's age, the artist's name and patron (Ferdinand II of Tuscany) and the place where it was painted (Placentia).
The artist:
Sustermans combined meticulous Flemish style painting with a virtuosity of brushwork, a spontaneous fluency and a suavity of style. He was an excellent draftsman and a fine colorist. Although known mainly for his work as a portrait painter, he also painted historical and religious subjects.
Born in Antwerp in 1597, he was the son of a cloth weaver. As a boy he had the good fortune to study under Willem de Vos, a painter of considerable reputation, specializing in historical subjects. In 1616 Sustermans went to Paris and in 1617 became a pupil of Frans Pourbus the Younger. The name Pourbus was known for three generations as Flemish artists distinguished in portraiture. Pourbus the Younger was the court painter of Henry IV, painting various pictures of monarchs including Marie de Medici and King Louis XIII. Pourbus's studios were installed in the Louvre, and here Sustermans continued to refine his mastery of the techniques of Flemish painters; craftsmanship, precision, attention to detail, quick elaboration and perfect control of the medium of oil painting and to learn the skills of a portraitist.
In 1619 Sustermans went to Italy with a company of French tapestry workers traveling to Florence to work for the Medici duke, Cosimo II. At that time, the Medici family had been the wealthiest and most powerful family in Europe. They were, or were married to, royalty in England, France, Austria, etc. Florence was a leader in learning, science and art. The duke had provided lodgings and financial support for Galileo; The court of Cosimo ll was one of youth, brightness, vivacity and gaity. There was a free expenditure of great wealth, and the Medici's were known to be avid and discriminating patrons of the arts.
Sustermans arrived in Florence in the spring of 1620, where he painted the doyen (or leader) of the tapestry workers. The portrait impressed Duke Cosimo II and Sustermans was appointed court painter in 1620, with a good salary and lodgings in the palace. Duke Cosimo ll died in 1620 and was succeeded by Ferdinand II who reigned until 1670. (Until he died in 1681, Sustermans portrayed three generations of the later Medici, including cardinals, scholars, priests, princesses, nobles and commoners.)
Commissions of the time included full length, half-length and miniatures offered at the same time. One sitting for a portrait would do for a few years. Various versions were supplied with alterations in costume, or the artist would paint the head, hand and sketched figure, leaving a workshop of assistants to complete the details of the paintings, or make copies. (His brother Francesco assisted him in Florence for several years.) Sustermans was soon overloaded with work and this situation lasted until he became an old man.
There was an enormous demand for portraits. New official portraits of all male members of a family were created at the beginning of a new reign and were copied immediately to be sent to relatives abroad. Until Sustermans, portrait painters in Florence were mediocre. He painted sitters at their best, but the figures still looked like themselves, given form and life with the aid of light and color. Baldinucci, his friend and biographer, mentions that a characteristic of Sustermans’ portraits was that the pose of the sitter was captured so well that the sitter could be recognized from that alone, even if the head were covered. Sustermans’ portrait of Galileo is supposed to be one of his finest, worthy of Reubens, Velazquez and Van Dyke.
Although his headquarters were in Florence, he worked elsewhere. In 1624 he journeyed to Vienna, where Emperor Ferdinand II allowed him to paint seated and covered in his presence. He was ennobled at that time.
In 1626 he was visited in Florence by Van Dyck who drew his portrait and later sent him his own portrait. In 1627 Pope Urban VII gave him special privileges. Through Sustermans’ influence Reubens was commissioned to do an allegorical painting for Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany, and in 1638, "Allegory of the Outbreak of War" (now in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence) was sent to Sustermans with a letter from Reubens asking him to repair it if it was damaged in transit.
From 1640 - 1654 he painted notables in Parma, Piacenza, Milan, Rome, Modena, Ferrara, Mantua, Genoa, and Innsbruck. (He was in the emperor's service at Innsbruck 1652-1653.)
Influenced by Ciro Ferri, Sustermans altered his painting style in the 1660's, beginning his "Baroque" phase. He was over sixty at the time, and it is considered that his most dashing work dates from this period. During the reign of Cosimo III, Sustermans painted the duke ten times, and by 1670 his brushwork was believed to be at its best, using white enhanced by black, and corals (believed to ward off evil) to provide a colorful accent.
In 1678, at the age of eighty-one, he is supposed to have painted Francesco Maria (b.1660) on which he inscribed his name, age and the year painted, however, no such portrait appears on any inventory.
He died April 23, 1681, leaving behind a legacy of accurate historical portraits, as well as historical, religious and allegorical paintings. Many examples of his works can be found in the Pitti Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery in Italy.
Prepared for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Docent Council by: Michelle N. Fitton, April 10, 1986.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS:
Bautier, Pierre, Juste Suttermans, Peintre Des Medicis, G. Van Oest and Co., Brussels/Paris, 1912.
Benezit, E., Dictionaire des Peintrest Sculptures, Dessinateurs, Graveurs Novelle Edition, Librairie, Grund, 1976.
Bruhn, Wolfgang and Max Tilke, A Pictorial History of Costume, Hastings House Publishers, New York, 1973.
Champlain, John D. Jr., Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings, Kennikat - Press, Port Washington, New York, 1885-1887. Reissued in 1969. Volume IV.
Clements, Clara E., Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers, James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1881.
Cleugh, James, The Medici: A Tale of Fifteen Generations, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1975
Fry, Roger, Flemish Art, Chatto and Windus, London, 1927.
Jacobs, Jay, The Color Encyclopedia of World Art, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1975.
Kemper, Rachel H., Costume, Newsweek Books, New York, 1977.
Langedijk, Karla, The Portraits of the Medici: 15th-18th Century, Firenze Studio per Edizioni Scelte, Firenze, 1981.
Michel, Edouard, Flemish Painting in the 17th Century, The Hyperion Press, Paris, 1939.
Michel, Emile, Rubens, His Life, His Work, and His Time, William Heinemann, London/Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, MDCCXCIX.
Sichel, Marion, Costume Reference, Plays, Inc. Boston, 1977. Volume 3.
Wilinski, R.H., Flemish Painters 1530-1830, Viking Press, New York, 1960. Volumes I and II.
Younger, Colonel G.F., The Medici, John Murray, Albemarle St. W., London, 1920.
PERIODICALS:
Chiarini, Marco, An Unusual Subject by Justus Sustermans, Burlington Magazine, Volumne CXIX, No. 886, January, 1977. Pgs. 40-41.
Corti, Gino, Two Picture Collections in 18th Century Florence, Burlington Magazine, CXXIX 953, August 1982. Pgs 502-505.
Kultzen, Rolf, Justus Sustermans as an Animal Painter, Burlington Magazine, Volumne CXIX, No. 886, January, 1977. Pgs. 39-40.
EXHIBITION AND COLLECTION CATALOGUES:
Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Fenway Court, 1982.
Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Sustermans, Sessant' anni alla corte dei Medici, Sala delle Nicchie, Luglio-Ottobre, 1983.
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Painting in Florence, 1600-1700, presented by Colnaghi, 20th Jan. - 18th Feb. 1979 and 27th Feb.- 28th March, 1979. Catalogue by Charles McCorquodale, 1979.
LETTERS:
Arisi, Ferdinando. To Barry M. Heisler, Curator, The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, May 11, 1984.
Stock, Julien. To Richard Reed Armstrong, donor, November 24, 1970.
SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS
Though Flemish born, Justus or Giusto Sustermans practiced largely in Italy, where he was considered the foremost portraitist, on par with Anthony van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens. By the time he painted this portrait, he had already enjoyed the steady patronage of the powerful Medici family for more than a dozen years. Highly adaptable, Justus was attracted to the colorists, including the Venetian painter Titian, as well as Rubens, whose influence is evident here in the lush description of fabrics and the humidity of the sitter’s flushed skin and lips. Susterman’s early Flemish training is also on display in the meticulous description of the young man’s elaborate lace collar.
- Ludington Court Reopening