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by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi (Author)
The author identifies the sitter of Sebastiano del Piombo's Portrait of a Humanist in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, as Fernando Columbus, son of one of the most famous men in history, Christopher Columbus. This identification opens a confluence of relations, international exchanges, and cultural interests that bring together the Old and New World. An intriguing written correspondence centered on three key elements-portraits, books, gardens-reveals the singular personality of this intellectual and passionate collector Fernando, and his association with the painter Sebastiano del Piombo and the wealthy banker, Agostino Chigi, "the Magnificent."