Portrait of Giovanni II Bentivoglio
by ROBERTI, Ercole de', Oil on wood, 54 x 38 cm
The subject of this painting, a companion-piece to the portrait of his wife Ginevra Bentivoglio, was ruler of Bologna for thirty-three years. Quattrocento portraits were expected to trace with cartographic precision exact physical appearences. Profile portraits were probably preferred because they recall imperial likenesses on ancient Roman coins.