JACOB FERDINAND VOET (Antwerp, 1639 - Paris, 1689) Portrait of Prince Gaspare Paluzzi Altieri (c. 1670) Oil on canvas, 168X118 cm The painting has been declared to be of extraordinary artistic and historical interest and subject to notification. Provenance: Rome, Altieri Palace Bibliography: Federico Zeri Photo Library, no. 49872 (as Carlo Maratti) E. K. Waterhouse, Baroque Painting in Rome. The Seventeenth Century, London 1937, p. 80 (as Carlo Maratti) A. Mezzetti, Contributi a Carlo Maratti, in Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte, no. IV, 1955, pp. 253-254 (as Carlo Maratti) A. Schiavo, 1962, p. 104, fig. 131 S. Rudolph, An Istance of timethwarted by Love: Carlo Maratti's portrait of an unusual lady, in Labyrinthos, XI-XII, 21/24, 1992-1993, pp. 192-213, p. 208, footnote 1 F. Petrucci, La ritrattistica, in Giovanni Battista Gaulli il Baciccio 1639-1709, exhibition catalogue edited by M. Fagiolo dell'Arco, D. Graf, F. Petrucci, Milan 1999, pp. 90-91, fi. 2 F. Petrucci, Ferdinand Voet (1639-1689) detto Ferdinando de' Ritratti, Rome 2005, p. 168, n. 80a F. Petrucci, Ritratto di Pietro Banchieri in veste di 'bella', in Quaderni del Barocco no. 6, 2009, p. 4 (cited) A. Agresti, Carlo Maratti. Eredità ed evoluzioni del classicismo romano, Rome 2022, p. 212 (cited) The painting can be counted among Jacob Ferdinand Voet's masterpieces. Portraying Prince Gaspare Paluzzi Albertoni Altieri (Rome, 1650 - 1720), it was painted on the occasion of his marriage to Laura Caterina Altieri, according to the wishes of Pope Clement X (born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri). At the time, the canvas was placed in the Red Room of the Altieri Palace in Rome, together with the portraits of Clement X, Cardinal Paluzzo Altieri (executed by Anton von Maron, Vienna, 1733 - Rome, 1808) and Laura Caterina, works that were ovalised by von Maron in the 18th century to 'update' their format in an 18th century key. As we know, the effigy was attributed to Carlo Maratti (Camerano, 1625 - Rome, 1713) by Waterhouse and the scholar's judgement was shared by Mezzetti and Stella Rudolph, but we owe the correct reference to the Flemish painter active in the Eternal City to Francesco Petrucci. As we know, Voet arrived in Rome in 1663 after having sojourned in France and early on was recognised as having the extraordinary talent as a portrait painter that was the basis of his resounding success, enabling him to work for the papal court and the aristocracy, not to mention commissions from the Lombard nobility and the House of Savoy. His production exhibits significant qualitative aspects, which can be grasped by observing the expressive force of his gazes, his psychological introspection and that sprezzatura in which Nordic and French instances are skilfully mixed with Italian Baroque elegance. His predominance in this specific genre over Carlo Maratti and Giovanni Battista Gaulli is not surprising, then. Returning to the work under scrutiny, this one stands out for the loquacious affability of the face, the communicative vitality of the eyes and the care with which the author describes the armour, ornaments and fine lacework, attesting to the author's ability to capture and magnify the character and aesthetics of the effigies while maintaining verisimilitude.