Tommaso Inghirami , known as "Fedra", depicted at his desk, was a learned humanist born in Volterra in 1470 , in the service of Pope Leo
The portrait of Boston comes from Casa Inghirami in Volterra, where it remained until the beginning of the twentieth century, before being purchased by its current location. The Florentine painting was instead part of the collection of Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici , and after his death it became part of the picture gallery of Palazzo Pitti ; from 1799 to 1815 he was in Paris due to the Napoleonic plundering [1] .
Cavalcaselle considered only the Pitti painting to be autograph, as did Passavant, Adolfo Venturi and Pittaluga (who did not comment on the Boston painting), while Morelli, Durand-Gréville, Gamba and Suida opted for the Boston one. Both autographs for Gronau , Marangoni, Carli, Francini Ciaranfi, Camesasca and Monti; neither, which would therefore derive from a lost prototype, according to Fischel. Gamba referred the work to Pitti to the hand of Daniele da Volterra , Durand-Gréville considered only the face to be autograph (1907), later changing his mind (1911) and referring it to a subsequent period [1] .
Accurate scientific tests seem to make the Florentine version prevail today, due to its better pictorial quality, psychological introspection and expressive power [2] . The Boston work could therefore be a copy of the painting made for the family.
SIZE: