The painting, executed by a young Adeodato Malatesta in the turbulent 1831, marked the end of the contrasts that had arisen between the Duke and the painter. In that year Francesco IV was called upon to suppress the insurrection planned by Enrico Misley and Ciro Menotti, an affair that still shows obscure sides, the Duke himself perhaps being an accomplice or at least acquiescent. Adeodato was suspected of having relations of friendship and esteem towards some liberals close to Menotti, and this doubt led Francesco IV to revoke his study pension that had taken him first to Florence and then to Rome, a city he was forced to leave a few months after his arrival. He then returned to Modena to the Atestina Academy of Fine Arts and, thanks to the mediation of the director Giuseppe Pisani, once again obtained the esteem of the Duke for whom he painted this portrait.
The same image of the Duke was to be reproduced in the portrait painted around 1837 and conserved in the Galleria Estense in Modena (inv. no. 6974) in which the symbols of power and the rich setting are also depicted.
The Duke is depicted three-quarter facing right while his sharp gaze is to the left, his right hand rests on the staff of command and his left arm is bent at his side. The face is turned to the light and is characterised by the hardness of the gaze, the lips are fleshy and a very light veil of beard can be seen on the face, while the hair is coiffed ‘Cesare style’. The skilful play of light and the delicate modulation of chiaroscuro give the impression that the Duke has a soft, diffuse aura around him that makes him stand out from the dark background. The Duke thus becomes a suggestive and evocative figure: this impression is achieved through the combination of various elements such as the predominance of the red of the suit in contrast to the background, the folds of the white mantle emphasised by the light, the golden glow of the chain with the Toson d’Oro, the rapid touches of the brush outlining the lace and the coats of arms on the chest.
To emphasise the historical moment in which this portrait was made, on the edge of the white mantle that the Duke wears over his left shoulder is the inscription in old Burgundian ‘je l’ay emprins’, i.e. ‘I dared to do it’, which was the motto of Duke Charles the Bold and which in this portrait refers to the harsh policy of repression conducted by Francesco IV.
