Bird of the ‘Red Cardinal’ Species

tuscan school

This small panel was first documented in connection with the Borghese Collection in 1693. The presence of several parts in scagliola suggests an undocumented restoration operation in the past. It depicts a bird, identified as a ‘red cardinal’, a species of American origin. The choice of subject points to the exotic and above all unusual taste of the creator of the cartoon, who was most likely Jacopo Ligozzi, the Veronese artist active in the 1570s at the Florentine court of Francesco I, who at the time was known for his great interest in zoology.

Object details

Commentary

‘A small panel in stone of half a span with a red bird perched on a piece of wood within a lapis lazuli border, with a gilded copper frame, no. 47. Artist uncertain’ (Inv. 1693). So reads the entry in the 1693 Borghese inventory describing this small panel in scagliola and hardstone, which depicts a bird of the ‘red cardinal’ species. This type of bird was certainly known in Rome, where interest in natural phenomena was at the centre of the intricate Wunderkammern. In addition to ancient statues and modern paintings, exotic objects reached the Eternal City from all over the world, in particular Latin America and Asia. Italians became familiar with these regions through products of animal and vegetable origin, imported not only to enrich diets and gardens but also those cabinets of curiosities, which contained unique, extraordinary items.

Although the provenance of this composition is unknown, it is not difficult to imagine that it could have been one of the many gifts received by Scipione Borghese. It could well be an allegorical representation of the cultured cardinal in the form of the red bird, whose plumage clearly alludes to the cardinalitial dress. Critics have not attached much value to this work, beginning with Piancastelli (1891). Paola della Pergola (1959) called it a purely decorative element, a ‘chinoiserie’ that made its way from Florence to Rome in the first years of the 17th century. Sara Staccioli (1971) likewise traced its origins to the Medicean capital, proposing that it shares features with the drawings of Jacopo Ligozzi, the artist from Verona active as a designer at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure: it was here that from the 1570s, Ligozzi created designs for the execution of well-known masterpieces, including the great octagonal panel in the Tribuna of the Uffizi.

While on the one hand many features of the composition suggest a connection with Florence, on the other certain technical qualities, such as the use of red stone, white marble and scagliola – which is present in feet, field and lower feathers – point to Carpi and the workshops of Modena: here fine plaster mixed with coloured pigments was a particular popular technique for imitating precious stones beginning in the first decade of the 17th century.

Whatever its origin, this artefact was certainly one of the first of its kind, as shown by the rather coarse representation of certain details and the absence of any attempt at developing the background.

Antonio Iommelli