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SCIENTIFIC WORK international scientific journal. With Impact Factor. 2021 / Volume: 15 Issue: 2 e-ISSN: 2708-986X
16
DOI:
10.36719/2663-4619/63/16-18
Elshad Vugar Aliyev
ANAS The Institute of Architecture and Art
Phd in art studies, associate professor
aliyev.science@gmail.com
Mehbara Tahir Abbasova
Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art
lecturer
mehbara.abbasova@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0002-9017-1254
7+(³68),´32575$,7IN THE GIOVIO SERIES
Summary
Founded in 1501, the Safavid state and the young leader of this state, Shah Ismail I, attracted the
attention of European aristocratic dynasties, kings and religious leaders. Ambassadors, diplomats and
merchants sent from Europe to Azerbaijan conveyed various information about Ismail to their homeland, and
later these records and sources were published in books, albums and memoirs. Gradually, engravings and
paintings depicting Ismail Safavid appeared in the European fine arts. Unfortunately, the descriptions of
Shah Ismail I in the European visual arts have not been sufficiently studied. It is known that the portrait,
taken as the standard of appearance of Ismail the First, was exhibited at the Paolo Giovio Museum in Como.
The article examines the activities of Paolo Giovio, his famous museum and the portrait of "Sufi" in Giovio's
collection.
Key words: Shah Ismayil, Paolo Giovio, Italian art, portrait painting, Museum of Como, Safavid period
From the early 16
th
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region but also all over the world, especially in Europe. In the autumn of 1501, the Kizilbash headed by Shah
Ismail I conquered Tabriz and Ismail proclaimed himself Shah. In a short time, his glory spread the whole
world, and travellers, diplomats, and merchants from different places thronged to Azerbaijan and Iran.
Various rumours and stories circulated about Ismail I.Over time, the Shah attracted the attention of both
artists and diplomats, hence a variety of engravings and paintings appeared. It should be emphasized that
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The Soviet Encyclopaedia of Azerbaijan showed the Bellini as the author of the portrait of Shah Ismail I
(1; 83). The Bellini were prominent representatives of the Venetian School of Art and had a great impact on
the school. Gentile Bellini was born in Venice in 1429. In 1479 he was sent toIstanbul by Frederick III and
worked there for about two years. During his stay in Istanbul, he created portraits of Turkish sultans. This is
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brothers, especially portraits, differ from the portrait of I Shah Ismail in Florence in colour scheme and
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Gentile Bellini was a brilliant representative of the Venetian school, he had a lot of followers and students.
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terms of both theme and painting technique. One of such works is the portrait of Suleiman the Magnificent
which is dated to 1520. The work depicts a young sultan in full profile. We do not accidentally mention this
work, we will touch upon it later in the paper.
We consider that the portrait kept in the Uffizi Gallery was to a greater extent createdusing the technique
of the Florentine painting school. The author of the portrait Cristofano dell'Altissimo was a representative of
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student and then became a student of Pontormo. BronzLQR¶VLQIOXHQFHRQ&ULVWRIDQR¶VZRUNVLVVWLOOHYLGHQW
For a long time since 1552, he had produced copies of theportraits in the series in Como by order of Cosimo
de'Medici (2; 108)
.
This portrait collection is called The Giovio Series and now has a permanent home in the
Uffizi Gallery. Another interesting fact is that Cristofano made some changes in the composition of the
portraits while copying them, he somehow assimilated the work and painted it in a peculiar way. Anyway,
we are analysing the existing painting.
The portrait in oils with a height of 60, width of 45 centimetres, is preserved in the Uffizi Gallery by
inventory number 5 (C.P., page 215, no. 418) (3). The Portrait was painted in 1568, i.e. 44 years after Ismail
,¶V GHDWK DQG ZDV SUREDEO\ FRSied from the Giovio Series by order of the famous Medici family. Paolo