by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
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Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
Portrait of Maffeo Barberini: The Seated Corsini Painting
Maffeo Barberini sits beside a table, one hand on an open book, with a glass vase of flowers nearby. This is the seated Corsini portrait in Florence, the object shown on this inherited Portrait of Maffeo Barberini page. The Italian Ministry of Culture's national catalogue dates it about 1596–97, records it as oil on canvas and supports an attribution to Caravaggio while acknowledging dissenting scholarly voices.[1]
It is a separate painting from the open-hand Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini acquired by the Italian state in March 2026 for Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The new acquisition is often reported simply as “the Caravaggio Barberini portrait,” so identifying the book and flowers here is essential. This seated canvas remained a privately owned Corsini-family work in the national catalogue's 2012 record.[1][2]
Caravaggio in context
The Cardsharps
c.1595Calling of Saint Matthew
1599–1600Supper at Emmaus
1601At a Glance
- Artistattributed to Caravaggio in the Italian national catalogue; scholarly dissent noted[1]
- SubjectMaffeo Barberini (1568–1644), later Pope Urban VIII[1]
- Datec.1596–97 in the national catalogue[1]
- Materialoil on canvas[1]
- Location and ownership in 2012 catalogueprivate Corsini-family collection, Palazzo Corsini, Via del Parione, Florence; current ownership/display requires recheck[1]
- National catalogue code0900745773[1]
- Sizea 2025 exhibition review reports 122 × 95 cm for the seated Corsini portrait[3]
- Identifying detailsseated figure, open book under right hand, second book and flower vase on table[1]
Contents
- Recognizing the Seated Portrait
- Books, Flowers and a Rising Cleric
- The Inventory Trail
- The Caravaggio Attribution
- Date and the Early Roman Works
- How It Differs from the Newly Acquired Portrait
- Frequently Asked Questions
Recognizing the Seated Portrait
The portrait shows Barberini turned three quarters to the left. He wears the clothing of a protonotary apostolic, according to the Italian national catalogue. His left hand rests on the wooden chair's arm, while the right touches an open book on the table. A second book and a glass vessel of flowers complete the setting.[1]
These elements make the object identifiable in a way that a title alone cannot. Maffeo was portrayed more than once, and descriptions of a “Maffeo Barberini portrait” can easily merge two canvases. The open book, flower vase and seated posture belong to the Florence Corsini painting. The Roman open-hand version is linked to Roberto Longhi's 1963 article and the state acquisition announced in 2026.[1][2]
The table projects toward the viewer at an angle. The national catalogue treats that perspective, the shortened arms and hands and the immediate facial expression as evidence for Caravaggio's early Roman visual language. These are arguments in an attribution, not signed declarations by the painter. The viewer can follow the visual logic even if they reserve judgement on authorship.[1]
Books, Flowers and a Rising Cleric
The sitter is the future Pope Urban VIII, but the painting shows him long before his papacy. The national catalogue says Maffeo became a protonotary apostolic in 1593, a cardinal in 1605, and pope in 1623. The clothing, books and poised gesture situate him as a learned and ambitious cleric at an early stage.[1]
The books suggest study and office. Their titles are not established in the summary object record, so it would be misleading to name a particular text or turn the open page into a documented legal act. A glass vase of flowers adds a small still-life study. The catalogue compares it with flowers in Caravaggio's Hermitage Lute Player, an argument from painterly resemblance rather than evidence that the two pictures had the same patron.[1][4]
The contrast of detailed objects and a living face can make the portrait feel like more than an official likeness. Maffeo's expression appears momentary; the table and books project his place in learned court society. The work therefore offers a useful comparison with the Alof de Wignacourt portrait, where armour and a page express authority through a military order rather than literary and ecclesiastical office.[1][5]
The Inventory Trail
The national catalogue records the painting with the Barberini family and later the Corsini family. It says the passage into Corsini ownership followed late-nineteenth-century Barberini-Corsini marriages, and that in the record's 2012 research the portrait was privately owned and housed at Palazzo Corsini on Via del Parione in Florence.[1]
The early inventories are more precise and more limited than a simple continuous history. A 1608 inventory lists “two portraits” of Maffeo Barberini without identifying each in detail. One may well be this picture, but the entry alone cannot prove which. A 1655 Barberini description, however, speaks of a seated prelate with a flower carafe and a hand on an open book. Those distinctive objects give the later entry a much firmer connection to the present painting.[1]
This evidence matters when comparing the two Barberini pages. The 1655 description is not a free-floating reference that can be transferred to the open-hand portrait. Its book, vase and seated posture match this canvas. The 1608 plural wording is a warning that more than one likeness could have existed in the household.[1]
The national catalogue is a 2012 compilation. It is a primary institutional anchor for the painting's recorded provenance at that time; it is not a live display feed. A public visitor instruction should verify whether the private work is accessible before suggesting a trip to Palazzo Corsini. Private ownership alone does not promise entry.[1]
The Caravaggio Attribution
Lionello Venturi proposed attribution to Caravaggio in 1912, according to the national catalogue. It reports subsequent support and some dissent, then endorses later arguments by Francesco Petrucci. The record points to naturalistic invention, daring perspective of the arms and table, the face's immediate expression, the flower still life and a light-dark arrangement compared with early Caravaggio works.[1]
Those observations support an art-historical case, but the dissent should remain visible. A news item that calls the painting simply “a Caravaggio” does not make every specialist's view identical. The safest lead says “attributed to Caravaggio” while explaining that the Italian national catalogue supports the attribution. A 2025 exhibition review likewise listed the Florence portrait as attributed to Caravaggio and gave its dimensions as 122 × 95 cm.[1][3]
The issue is separate from the more widely accepted open-hand Barberini portrait. The 2026 Palazzo Barberini acquisition announcement describes broad scholarly agreement about that other canvas after Longhi's 1963 publication. Agreement about one painting must not be used as proof for the other.[2]
Date and the Early Roman Works
The national catalogue proposes about 1596–97. It links this early date to Maffeo's position and the painting's resemblance to Caravaggio's first Roman works, including the Uffizi Bacchus and the Hermitage Lute Player. Such stylistic dating is an argument, not a surviving invoice with a year written beside the portrait.[1][4]
Maffeo's later papacy can distort a reader's first impression of the portrait. He was not pope at the time it was painted. The image captures a rising official with family and cultural connections, not a pontiff in papal dress. The date places the work before Caravaggio's major public chapel paintings, if the proposed attribution and chronology hold.[1]
The object must not inherit “1598” from the other Barberini route's address. The years are close, but the canvases and evidence trails are distinct. The Florence catalogue's c.1596–97 belongs to this seated portrait; the Rome painting's approximate date is discussed on its own page.[1][2]
How It Differs from the Newly Acquired Portrait
The newly acquired painting shows Monsignor Maffeo Barberini with a more animated, open-hand gesture. It was displayed at Palazzo Barberini from late 2024 and purchased by the Italian state in March 2026, with a plan for permanent assignment to the museum. Italian Ministry records describe it as 124 × 90 cm.[2][6]
The seated Corsini painting has books and a vase and was listed as private property in Florence. A 2025 exhibition review gives 122 × 95 cm for the seated Corsini painting. The two sizes are close enough that dimensions alone are a poor identification method; composition and provenance provide better checks.[1][3]
Neither painting can be called a copy of the other on the evidence cited here. They are separate likenesses associated with the same powerful sitter. Their attribution histories also differ. The comparison illustrates how portrait cataloguing depends on more than one famous name.
Explore the Caravaggio collection
| Name | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Adoration of the Shepherds by Caravaggio: The Messina Nativity | 1608–09; precise order relative to Resurrection of Lazarus remains unresolved | Artwork |
| Amor Victorious by Caravaggio | 1601–02 in the Berlin owner record | Artwork |
| Bacchus by Caravaggio: The Uffizi Painting | about 1598, according to the Uffizi | Artwork |
| Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio | after 1597, probably around the turn of the seventeenth century, according to the Ambrosiana | Artwork |
| Boy Bitten by a Lizard: Caravaggio's London Painting | about 1594–95 in the National Gallery's current catalogue; URL suffix “1596” is inherited | Artwork |
| Boy Bitten by a Lizard: The Florence Version Attributed to Caravaggio | disputed; Longhi's catalogue record preserves historical 1592–93 and other proposed ranges, including c.1597 | Artwork |
| Boy Peeling Fruit by Caravaggio: The Royal Collection Painting | about 1592–93 in the owner's current exhibition record | Artwork |
| Boy Peeling Fruit in Florence: A Derivation from Caravaggio | — | Artwork |
| Boy with a Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio | about 1595 in the Galleria Borghese catalogue | Artwork |
| Caravaggio Paintings in Rome: Churches, Museums and a Practical Route | — | Guide |
| Caravaggio Quotes: What the Documents Actually Record | — | Guide |
| Caravaggio's Lute Player: The Del Monte Painting Once Shown at the Met | about 1596–97 in the Met catalogue | Artwork |
| Caravaggio's Painting Technique: Grounds, Incisions, Revisions and Light | — | Guide |
| Christ at the Column by Caravaggio: The Rouen Flagellation | c.1606 in the owner caption; owner prose gives 1606–07 | Artwork |
| Christ on the Mount of Olives by Caravaggio: The Lost Berlin Painting | — | Artwork |
| Conversion on the Way to Damascus by Caravaggio | about 1601 in the Roma Capitale church record | Artwork |
| Crowning with Thorns by Caravaggio: The Vienna Painting | about 1603 in the 2019 KHM record; “1607” is an inherited URL suffix | Artwork |
| Crowning with Thorns in Prato: Attributed to Caravaggio | about 1602–03 in the collection presentation | Artwork |
| David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio: The Borghese Painting | 1606–07 or 1609–10 in the Galleria Borghese catalogue; the later Naples period is favoured by many scholars, while the owner keeps the question open | Artwork |
| David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio: The Prado Painting | about 1600 in Prado material; “1599” survives only in the legacy URL | Artwork |
| David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio: The Vienna Painting | about 1600–01 in the KHM's 2019 exhibition record; “1607” is a legacy route label | Artwork |
| Did Caravaggio Make Drawings? What Survives and What Paintings Reveal | — | Guide |
| Ecce Homo: Caravaggio's Madrid Rediscovery and the Genoa Painting | — | Artwork |
| John the Baptist in Caravaggio's Paintings: A Guide to the Different Versions | — | Artwork |
| Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio | beginning of the seventeenth century in the owning museum's account; about 1599–1600 in the Kimbell's 2025 loan label; around 1602 in one specialist catalogue | Artwork |
| Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto: Caravaggio's Ludovisi Ceiling | about 1597; the archive connects the work with Cardinal del Monte's 1597 commission | Artwork |
| Madonna and Child with Saint Anne by Caravaggio: The Palafrenieri Altarpiece | 1605 in the Galleria Borghese object field; completed and delivered by 8 April 1606 | Artwork |
| Madonna of Loreto by Caravaggio: The Pilgrims at Sant'Agostino | broadly c.1604–06; institutional records differ slightly in their starting year | Artwork |
| Madonna of the Rosary by Caravaggio: The Vienna Altarpiece | around 1603 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum's object record | Artwork |
| Martha and Mary Magdalene by Caravaggio: The Detroit Painting | about 1598 in the Detroit Institute of Arts record | Artwork |
| Medusa by Caravaggio: The Uffizi Painted Shield | 1596–98 in the Uffizi's virtual exhibition; specialist research reports the shield delivered to the Medici wardrobe by 7 September 1598 | Artwork |
| Narcissus, Attributed to Caravaggio | dependent on attribution; the Zeri catalogue gives a broad 1610–50 range under Spadarino | Artwork |
| Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence: Caravaggio's Missing Painting | somewhere in 1600–09 in the parliamentary report; a specific 1609 execution and place remain debated | Artwork |
| Penitent Mary Magdalene by Caravaggio | 1597 in the owner's catalogue, during Caravaggio's early Roman activity | Artwork |
| Portrait of a Courtesan: Caravaggio's Lost Berlin Portrait | Berlin's data field says c.1590, while its own text compares a Caravaggio work of c.1598; precise date unresolved | Artwork |
| Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and His Page by Caravaggio | — | Artwork |
| Portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli? Caravaggio's Pitti Knight of Malta | 1608 in the Restituzioni object heading; within Caravaggio's Malta period | Artwork |
| Portrait of Maffeo Barberini: The Seated Corsini Painting | c.1596–97 in the national catalogue | Artwork |
| Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini: Caravaggio's Newly Acquired Painting | around the late 1590s / age thirty; “1598” in the inherited address is approximate, not an exact document date | Artwork |
| Portrait of Pope Paul V: A Caravaggio Attribution and a Borghese Copy | — | Artwork |
| Prints After Caravaggio: Who Made Them and What They Show | — | Guide |
| Reclining Saint John the Baptist: A Disputed Caravaggio Attribution | often proposed for the artist's final years; the later museum list does not give a precise year. | Artwork |
| Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Caravaggio | about 1597 in the owner's catalogue | Artwork |
| Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio: The Thyssen Painting | about 1598–99 in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza catalogue | Artwork |
| Saint Francis in Meditation by Caravaggio: The Cremona Painting | 1603–06 in the owner account; c.1605–06 in a KHM exhibition caption | Artwork |
| Saint Francis in Prayer: Caravaggio's Carpineto Painting | 1606 in a 2016–17 exhibition work list | Artwork |
| Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy by Caravaggio | c.1595–96 in the owner wall text | Artwork |
| Saint Jerome in Meditation: Caravaggio's Montserrat Painting | 1605 in the owner record; an owner publication reports scholarship placing it about 1605–06 | Artwork |
| Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio: The Borghese Painting | c.1606 in the owner catalogue; the “1605” URL suffix is inherited | Artwork |
| Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio: The Malta Painting | around 1607–08; foundation dates Malaspina's commission to 1608 | Artwork |
| Saint John in the Wilderness at Toledo Cathedral | exact 1598 not established by the cited cathedral account. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at Galleria Corsini, Rome | about 1606 in the national record; older proposals ranged from the late 1590s onward. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at the Capitoline Museums, Rome | 1602. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at the Galleria Borghese | 1609–10 in the current Borghese record. | Artwork |
| Saint John the Baptist at the Spring: The Bonello Painting in Malta | early seventeenth century in the institutional account; a precise 1608 is not established there. | Artwork |
| Saint Matthew and the Angel: Caravaggio's Lost First Altarpiece | — | Artwork |
| Salome Receives the Head of John the Baptist: Caravaggio's London Painting | about 1609–10, likely late Naples period in the Gallery's account | Artwork |
| Salome with the Head of John the Baptist: Caravaggio's Madrid Painting | — | Artwork |
| Sleeping Cupid by Caravaggio: The Painting Made in Malta | about 1608, Malta period | Artwork |
| Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge: Is It by Caravaggio? | — | Artwork |
| Supper at Emmaus (1606): Caravaggio's Brera Painting | — | Artwork |
| The Annunciation by Caravaggio in Nancy | c.1607–10 in the collection record; 1608–10 in the museum's restoration account | Artwork |
| The Basel Saint John the Baptist: Once Labelled Caravaggio, Now Maíno | about 1608–10 in that schedule, rather than the legacy URL's 1600. | Artwork |
| The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio | about 1608; installed in the Oratory on 29 August 1608 | Artwork |
| The Burial of Saint Lucy by Caravaggio in Syracuse | 1608, during Caravaggio's Syracuse stay | Artwork |
| The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio | about 1599–1600 | Artwork |
| The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew by Caravaggio | about 1602–04 in the Trust's object text | Artwork |
| The Cardsharps by Caravaggio | about 1596–97 in the Kimbell's current object record | Artwork |
| The Conversion of Saint Paul: Caravaggio's Odescalchi Panel | commissioned in 1600; painted around 1600–01 | Artwork |
| The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew by Caravaggio | 1606–07 | Artwork |
| The Crucifixion of Saint Peter by Caravaggio | about 1601 | Artwork |
| The Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio | commissioned 1601; completed late 1605 or early 1606, according to the Louvre | Artwork |
| The Denial of Saint Peter by Caravaggio | 1610 | Artwork |
| The Doria Pamphilj Saint John the Baptist: A Second Youth with a Ram | linked compositionally to the Capitoline 1602 picture; an exact production year for this canvas is not established by the owner pages used here. | Artwork |
| The Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio: The Vatican Deposition | about 1600–04 in Vatican Museums publication material | Artwork |
| The Flagellation of Christ by Caravaggio: The Capodimonte Altarpiece | around 1607, in the first Naples period | Artwork |
| The Fortune Teller by Caravaggio: The Louvre Version and Its Roman Counterpart | — | Artwork |
| The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio | early 1600s in the Met catalogue; no more exact owner date asserted here | Artwork |
| The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio | about 1601 in the SPSG presentation | Artwork |
| The Inspiration of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio | usually 1602; also catalogued 1602–03, for the installed final altarpiece | Artwork |
| The Lute Player by Caravaggio: The Hermitage Painting | about 1596 in the Hermitage collection publication; the Hermitage Friends restoration page gives about 1595–96 | Artwork |
| The Magdalen in Ecstasy: Caravaggio, Copies and a Disputed Original | — | Artwork |
| The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio | 1599–1600; unveiled with The Calling in 1600 | Artwork |
| The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula by Caravaggio | — | Artwork |
| The Musicians by Caravaggio | 1597 | Artwork |
| The Resurrection of Lazarus by Caravaggio in Messina | 1609; delivered 10 June 1609 in the owner account | Artwork |
| The Sacrifice of Isaac by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi: A Former Caravaggio Attribution | about 1615–17 in the Nicholas Hall catalogue; “1598” is an inherited URL label, not the accepted date | Artwork |
| The Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio: The Uffizi Painting | about 1603 in the Uffizi catalogue | Artwork |
| The Seven Works of Mercy by Caravaggio | 1606–07, according to the Pio Monte | Artwork |
| The Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio: The London Painting | 1601 | Artwork |
| The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio | 1602 | Artwork |
| The Toulouse *Judith Beheading Holofernes*: A Caravaggio Attribution Debate | c.1606–07 if identified with the recorded Naples work; that identification is debated | Artwork |
| Young Sick Bacchus by Caravaggio | about 1595 in the Galleria Borghese catalogue | Artwork |
| Youth with a Ram: Why Caravaggio's Saint John Looks So Unusual | — | Artwork |
No matching pages found.
Discussion
Share a close observation about Portrait of Maffeo Barberini or a source that clarifies its history.
Which detail changes your reading?
Is there a collection record or document worth comparing?
What remains uncertain?
Join the Conversation
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the Barberini portrait acquired by Italy in 2026?
Is the seated painting certainly by Caravaggio?
The Italian national catalogue endorses Caravaggio's attribution but records dissenting scholars. “Attributed to Caravaggio” reflects that history.[1]
When was the seated portrait painted?
The national catalogue proposes about 1596–97.[1]
Where is the seated portrait?
The 2012 national record placed it in a private Corsini-family collection at Palazzo Corsini in Florence. Current ownership and public access need checking.[1]
References
- Italian Ministry of Culture, national catalogue record 0900745773, Ritratto di Maffeo Barberini, compiled 2012.
- Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini, acquisition of Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, 10 March 2026.
- Finestre sull’Arte, review of Caravaggio 2025, seated Barberini portrait caption, 2025.
- State Hermitage Museum, collection publication on The Lute Player, no. 45.
- Musée du Louvre, Alof de Wignacourt and his page.
- Italian Ministry of Culture, 2026 transport record for the 124 × 90 cm Barberini portrait.
