Portrait of Bindo Altoviti

Bindo Altoviti

c. 1515 · Painting

May one see it?

Yes, receiving visitors

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Room20 · West Building, Main Floor

On public display.

Checked: 18 hours ago
In this state since: Aug 19, 2026
Source: The museum's own collection data

On the map Museum page

About the painting

The Portrait of Bindo Altoviti is a painting finished around 1515 by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It is housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., United States.

Bindo Altoviti, a wealthy banker born in Rome in 1491 of Florentine descent, was a cultured man with a strong appreciation for the arts.

The subject's graceful, almost effeminate pose, combined with the pronounced contrast between light and shadow, is atypical of Raphael’s portraits of men. This painting demonstrates Raphael’s experimentation with different styles during his later period in Rome, where he was heavily influenced by Leonardo work, which he studied closely. This influence is particularly evident in this piece.

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The painting remained with Altoviti's descendants until 1808, when it was sold to Ludwig I of Bavaria. It then resided at the Alte Pinakothek until 1936, when, following considerable debate over its attribution, it was removed from Nazi Germany by "canny English dealers". Acquired by Samuel Henry Kress, the portrait subsequently became property of the National Gallery of Art collection in Washington, D.C.

A bronze bust of Altoviti by Benvenuto Cellini is exhibited in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

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Particulars

Accession number: 1943.4.33

What it shows

Male Altoviti, Bindo

In the catalog

Renaissance Marchigian Portrait

Sources

National Gallery of Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 5 days ago
Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access

Meanwhile, in the life of Raphael

The whole life

1508–1520 · Workplace
Rome
1513
Leo X becomes pope
The death of Julius II did not interrupt the work: his successor, the Medici Pope Leo X, became Raphael's last and even closer patron, and Raphael's friend Cardinal Bibbiena was a close friend and adviser of the new pope.
1514
Chief architect of St Peter's
After Bramante's death Raphael became chief architect of the new St Peter's and continued Bramante's construction of the Vatican Loggias, whose vaults his pupils painted.
1514
Engaged to Maria Bibbiena
Raphael became engaged to Cardinal Bibbiena's niece Maria, apparently talked into it by his friend the cardinal and without much enthusiasm: the marriage had still not taken place when she died in 1520. A permanent fixture in his Roman life was “La Fornarina”, Margherita Luti, a baker's daughter.
1515
Prefect of the antiquities of Rome
Raphael was given powers as Prefect over all antiquities unearthed in Rome or within a mile of it: finds had to be reported to him within three days, and inscriptions could not be destroyed without permission. He wrote to the pope proposing ways to halt the destruction of ancient monuments and a survey to record them all.
1515
An exchange of works with Albrecht Dürer
Raphael gave Albrecht Dürer one of his drawings, and the German master sent him his self-portrait in return; its fate is unknown.