Northern Italian School. 17th century. “Portrait of a Nobleman” Oil on canvas. Relined. On the back is an old collector's label that reads “Raccolta del Conte Giambattista Costabili di Ferrara. Nº 48'. (Collection of Count Giambattista Costabili of Ferrara. No. 481) 196 x 91 cm. Count Giambattista Costabili Containi (1756–1841) was a prominent Italian nobleman, politician, and patron of the arts from Ferrara. He is renowned in art history for having assembled one of Italy’s most important private collections of Renaissance paintings, as well as for having been a key figure in politics during the Napoleonic era. He was a great collector. He inherited and expanded a vast family collection that eventually exceeded 600 works of art. His primary passion was the art of the Ferrara School, rescuing and preserving masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. His collection of paintings was one of the most important in Italy. After his death, the collection was gradually dispersed. Much of it ended up in international museums such as the National Gallery in London. A detailed academic record of the collection and its dispersal is documented in the book “La collezione Costabili” by Emanuele Mattaliano. In political matters, he played a leading role during the Napoleonic era and served on the Executive Board of the University of Ferrara. He was known for his reformist ideas and served on diplomatic missions to Napoleon Bonaparte himself. His impressive personal library, which included rare codices, manuscripts, incunabula, and documents from the 15th to the 17th centuries, was auctioned off in 1858.