Marcellus Provenzalis

The Roman painter and engraver Ottavio Leoni transformed his famous group of highly finished chalk portraits into hundreds of prints. These amount to a compendium of important artists in early-17th-century Rome. Like Giovanni Baglione (1920.2303), Leoni’s portrait of Marcellus Provenzalis is a keen characterization of an artist. This engraving is among Leoni’s early prints and betrays his immature, slightly awkward cross-hatching.