LOMAZZO, Giovan Paolo
(b. 1538, Milano, d. 1600, Milano)

Self-Portrait as Abbot of the Accademia della Val di Blenio

c. 1568
Oil on canvas, 56 x 44 cm
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

In this rather unusual self-portrait the painter represents himself in the guise of "abbot" (president) of the Accademia della Val di Blenio (or Bregno). The Accademia della Val di Blenio (part of the present-day canton of Ticino in Switzerland) was founded in Milan in 1560. It is likely that Lomazzo's election in August 1568 to abbot, the highest rank within the brotherhood, provided the occasion for the execution of this curious self-portrait.