32 - Italian School. Circa 1650.

Italian School. Circa 1650. “Portrait of Charles II Gonzaga-Nevers, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, as Grand Master of the Preziosissimo Sangue di Cristo” Oil on canvas. Accompanied by an imposing 19th-century carved, gilded, and polychrome wooden frame. 187 x 134 cm. The British Museum, which holds an engraving of the sitter and numerous coins bearing his effigy (inv. C.2169), describes our sitter as follows: “Ninth Duke of Mantua; succeeded his grandfather Carlo I Gonzaga in 1637[…]. Married Isabella Clara, Archduchess of Austria (1649). Sold his family’s possessions in France (the duchies of Nevers and Rethel, etc.) to Cardinal Mazarin.” Carlos II Gonzaga Nevers “was born in Mantua on October 31, 1629, the son of Carlo, Duke of Rethel (1609–1631), son of Carlo I Gonzaga Nevers, Duke of Mantua, and Maria (1609–1660), daughter of Francesco Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Margherita of Savoy. In the will of his paternal grandfather [...] he was named universal heir to Mantua, Montferrato, and the French possessions” (Benzoni, 1977). It is interesting to note, as Gino Benzoni points out in the *Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani* published by Treccani, the praise Carlos II Gonzaga Nevers received from a very early age: “the Venetian ambassador Nicolò Dolfin considers him ‘of noble appearance, lively in spirit, and entirely free from any health impairment’, and he is barely eight when another Venetian representative, Alvise Molin, finds him ‘lively, good-natured, and quick-witted for his age,’ to such an extent that ‘at times some answers and thoughts come from his mouth that are worthy of a mature man and admirable in one so young’”. Nevertheless, despite enjoying a good reputation and high expectations from his earliest childhood, our subject had the reputation of possessing “a disposition [...] inclined toward pleasurable pursuits,” that is, one accustomed to lust and to the “negligent abdication of one’s own duties.” The territories of Montferrato were particularly significant during his reign. This historical region in northwestern Italy, located in what is now Piedmont, was constantly caught between France and the alliance of Spain and the Habsburgs. In 1652, at a time of “strengthening ties with the Habsburgs,” promoted by his mother, “the joint Spanish and Mantuan siege of Casale [Montferrato, a fortress of considerable military importance] took place in October 1652, followed by the expulsion of the French garrison, which was replaced by Gonzaga troops,” Benzoni explains. At the same time, in order to avoid antagonizing France, the Duke sent a payment to Paris as a way to justify his actions, which Louis XIV considered sufficient. He died in Mantua in 1665 and was succeeded by his only son, Ferdinando Carlo, under the regency of his mother, Isabella Clara. Bibliographic references: - British Museum. (n.d.). “Carlo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Nevers.” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/biog105521 - Benzoni, Gino. (1977). “Carlo II Gonzaga Nevers, Duke of Mantua and Montferrato.” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Treccani.