The painting has a mysterious and still little-studied history. In 2010 it was recognised in a private French collection and in the same year it was purchased first in Paris by a Modenese antique dealer, then in Modena by Alfredo Margreth (a doctor and scientist) who donated it to the National Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts in Modena, of which he is a member.
But in 2010 the appearance of the work was quite different from what we can admire today in the Hall of Mirrors of the Modena Academy. The beauty of the portrait was concealed under layers of heavy repainting and varnish yellowed by time and, after the necessary restoration, the refined features of the painting have once again emerged: from the Duke’s proud gaze to the naturalness with which the almost dishevelled hair is rendered and the precision in the description of the moustache and goatee in which a few white touches can be glimpsed.
Probably the painter’s talent is most evident in the depiction of Caesar’s armour, not only in the didactic and realistic design, but also in the lustre and glow of the metal and gold. Caesar wears a chiselled cuirass of exquisite workmanship decorated with gilding and plant motifs, but above all he displays the most important Este symbol the crowned eagle.
On his chest he also displays the Collar of the Toson d’Oro (Collar of the Golden Fleece), which allows us to insert a terminus post quem for the dating of the painting, as an exchange of letters from 1605 suggests that Caesar had already been awarded the high honour at that date. Thus, two symbols of power appear, but a further symbol is probably concealed behind the green ribbon with a tassel hanging from it, which he wears tied to his right arm. According to art historian Luca Silingardi, this could be the insignia of the Savoy knightly order of the Mauriziano Order, which Cesare is said to have been awarded after the marriage of his eldest son Alfonso III and Isabella of Savoia in 1608.
It should be noted that on the edge of the canvas at the top, the painter has inserted a gilded inscription in Latin, which in abbreviated form reads ‘CAES(AR) EST(ENSIS) D(VX) ALF(ONSI) D(VCIS) FER(RARIAE) SVC(CES-SOR)’ and thus identifies not only the subject of the portrait, but also his predecessor. This inscription might suggest that the painting was commissioned as a homage to another sovereign and not for the Court picture gallery, for which the inclusion of the name and titles would not have been necessary. This assumption in addition to the symbol of the Mauritian Order lead Silingardi to advance the hypothesis that the painting was commissioned for the Court of Carlo Emanuele I of Savoia, dating it around 1606-1607. Moreover, the studious puts forward a convincing attribution to identify the author: when comparing it with other portraits, he recognises the hand of the Flemish Frans Pourbus the Younger, who was already active for the Gonzaga Court at the time.
This portrait has been ‘brought to light’ twice: the first time when it was recognised in France and brought back to Italy, the second time after the restoration that revealed its extraordinary and refined painting.
