GALIZIA, Fede
(b. 1578, Milano, d. 1630, Milano)

Portrait of Paolo Morigia

1592-95
Oil on canvas, 88 x 79 cm
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan

The sitter for this portrait is Paolo Morigia, a prominent figure in Milanese culture during the last decades of the sixteenth century. He was the general of the Congregazione dei Gesuati and author of numerous historical and erudite texts. He is portrayed at an advanced age, wearing the white habit of his order and surrounded by the conventional attributes of scholarly work.

This portrait impressed the Morigia so much that he became a devout supporter of Fede Galizia.

Documents show that the inscription at top is spurious.