Antonio Ruffo

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Portrait of Antonio Ruffo by anonymous, 1673. Ritratto del Principe Antonio Ruffo.jpg
Portrait of Antonio Ruffo by anonymous, 1673.

Antonio Ruffo (1610 or 1611 - 16 June 1678) was an important Sicilian politician, nobleman, patron and collector from the Ruffo di Calabria family. He was probably born in Castle Bagnara or Messina and died in Messina. [1]

His collections included coins, silverware, paintings by Anthony van Dyck ( Saint Rosalie Interceding for the Plague–Stricken of Palermo ), Paul Bril, Jacob Jordaens, Abraham Casembroot [2] and others, several Rembrandt etchings and tapestries of The Life of Achilles to designs by Rubens. He commissioned three paintings from Rembrandt ( Aristotle with a Bust of Homer , Alexander the Great and Homer Dictating his Verses ) [3] and corresponded with Artemisia Gentileschi, Cornelis de Wael and Abraham Brueghel.

He was also the owner of Erminia and the Shepherd (Guercino, 1649), The History of Pythagoras: Buying Fishes and The History of Pythagoras: Coming out of the Cave (Salvator Rosa). [3]

After the earthquake of 1783, his first-born son Giovanni Ruffo rescued 112 paintings and brought them to Scaletta. [3]

Bibliography

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References

  1. "RKD entry".
  2. "Italian Baroque Art - Antonio Ruffo".
  3. 1 2 3 Giltaij, Jeroen. "A Note on Rembrandt's Aristotle, Alexander, and Homer". Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art. Retrieved 2023-10-25.