Procession with Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma
Second half of the XVI century. Wash, Pencil, White lead, Grey-brown ink, Pencil ground on paper.Not on display
As Gabriele Finaldi has pointed out, the military leader with the magnificent plumed helmet on his head is Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma (1545-1592), and his coat-of-arms appear top center, almost directly above. He is evidently setting out for war: his grooms bring forward his charger behind him; three maidens, bearing objects symbolic of protection, sustenance, and wealth precede him; and leading the procession is a youth striding forward, brandishhing a trumpet, personifying Fame. Anchored ashore in the distance to the right are his fleets, awaiting his embarkation. The general´s best-known campaign was that of the suppression of the Protestant Revolt in the Netherlands during the mid-1580s. In 1587, Philip II appointed him his Regent in the Netherlands. The principal outlines of the composition have been gone over with the stylus for transfer, which suggest that the design was to be engraved. So far, no corresponding print has been identified. The traditional attribution of the drawing to the little-known Parmese painter, engraver and miniaturist Innocenzo Martini (1551-1623), may suggest that he made the engraving. Florian Härb suggested the present convincing attribution to the Parmese, Late Mannerist painter Giovanni Battista Tinti, with whose style this drawing fits closely: compare especially his study for the Madonna del Rosario in the Albertina, Vienna.
