Cardinal de Bonsi (1544-1621) (oil on canvas)

The sitter was a Florentine noble created cardinal in 1611 by Pope Paul V (1552-1621). He acted as an arbitrator between Francesco de’ Medici and Clement VIII (1536-1605), and arranged the marriage between Marie de’ Medici and Henri IV (1553-1610), whose chaplain he became. He was appointed Bishop of Béziers by Henri IV. This is a version of the original, in the Musée Fabre, Montpelier. The circular device with radiating arms on the back of the chair in the painting is the emblem of the Bonsi family. Curiously the coat of arms does not appear in the original. Domenichino has been described as ‘the most complete example of a 17th-century artist struggling to reconcile tradition with the demand for spectacle.’