The Portraits

Sebastiano del Piombo – Portrait of Andrea Doria

Andrea Doria collected tapestries and silver more than paintings and it is precisely for these exceptional collections of tapestries and precious metal objects, both much more expensive than paintings, that the Palazzo del Principe was famous. Andrea Doria’s successors, including his direct heir Giovanni Andrea I, shared his passion for collecting artwork.

As regards easel paintings, the attention of the Doria family focused on portraits, with the purpose of transmitting the features of the family members to posterity. Indeed an important place among the paintings still in the Villa is held by the likenesses of the members of the family, whether these were commissioned by the Doria themselves or later arrivals.

Another significant part of the Doria collection is formed by portraits of Andrea Doria. The celebrated painting by Sebastiano del Piombo, commissioned by Pope Clement VII in 1526, when Andrea Doria became Supreme Commander of the papal fleet, depicts him at the age of sixty in an austere black robe and wearing an Admiral’s cap. This is considered one of the first examples of a state portrait, and there also exists an allegorical portrait of Andrea Doria designed by Bronzino for Paolo Giovio’s collection of portraits of illustrious men. In this painting, Andrea is celebrated in the guise of god of the sea, his heroic nudity partly inspired by Michelangelo’s David.

A third portrait of Andrea Doria offers a much more realistic representation of the Admiral in his old age, in the company of his cat. Andrea turns his gaze towards the spectator, with a deeply wrinkled face and drooping eyelids over red eyes; in front of him, on a table, are a big tabby cat and a clock.

Since he had no direct descendants, Andrea Doria designated Giannettino as his heir but he was killed during the Fieschi conspiracy of 1547. There exists a splendid portrait of him, attributed to Francesco Salviati, which shows him in three-quarter profile, elegantly dressed. Giannettino’s son Giovanni Andrea I, who then became heir of Andrea Doria, was painted by Alessandro Vaiani wearing the uniform of the Knights of Saint James and accompanied by Roldano, a dog given to him by the Spanish King Philip II. This large dog is also portrayed on a painting by Aurelio Lomi, where an elegantly dressed young page (or a young member of the family) is grooming him with a silver brush. Another famous portrait among the numerous effigies of ladies of the family, is the Portrait of Anna Pamphilj by Jacob Ferdinand Voet, sent in 1671 to her betrothed Giovanni Andrea III Doria.

Andrea Doria “The Prince” of Genoa

Andrea Doria was born in 1466 in Oneglia from Ceva and Caracosa Doria di Dolceacqua. In 1484, orphan and without his portion of feudal heritage, yield from his mother to her cousin Domenico, Andrea moved to Rome under the orders of Nicolò Doria, captain of the papal guards under Innocenzo VIII, part of the ligurian family of the Cybo. When Alessandro VI Borgia entered the papal court Andrea, having lost every influential contact, moved to Urbino care of the Montefeltro family first and after that of the Della Rovere household. In 1513 Andrea took service in the Genoese Republic commanding two galleys for the protection of Genoa and of the Riviera. In 1516 he bought three galleys and contracted his services with Francesco I king of France (1522-28) and with pope Clemente VII Medici (1526). During the permanence of the admiral in the papal court, Sebastiano del Piombo painted the portrait of Andrea which is still preserved in the Villa.
In the summer of 1528 the Doria stipulated a new contract with Carlo d’Asburgo, king of Spain and emperor, according to which he put at the kings disposal twelve galleys and three triremes receiving a compensation of 90.000 golden scudi each year and the imperial letter of marque. Concerning the politics Andrea asked and obtained the submission of Savona and Genoa’s independence, allied but not submitted to the emperor, with the demolition of the hated fortress of Castelletto which was site of the French garrison. In the same 1528 The Doria realized the oligarchic reform of the 28 noble hotels. In 1531 he received the title of prince of the Melfi feud in Basilica, which paid 40,000 scudi a year and 25,000 more as a special compensation, the ordinance of the honorary title of the Golden Toson, the highest at the time, with the assignment of the collar with the golden rams vellum that is always worn in Andrea’s portraits. The republic of Genoa to express gratitude conferred him the title of “Pater Patriae” and decided to erect a celebratory statue of colossal dimensions (sculptured in 1539 from Montorsoli). Above that the senate donated to the admiral a palace in the Doria district close to the church of Saint Mathew, which Andrea had restored from the Montorsoli as his monumental sacred burial. Alessandro accepted the role of perpetuate prior of the syndicates, and preferred to be introduced as champion of the republican ordinance even if he was, by all means, other than juridically, lord of the city. As prince, even if of a far away feud, he gave birth, along with his wife Peretta Usodimare, widow of the Marquis of the Carretto, of a noble Renaissance court that remained unique in Genoa’s history.
At the service of Charles V Andrea battled against the frightful Barbary Pirates between which the famous Barbarossa and Dragut. In 1547 he had to face the Fieschi’s conspiracy that found its conclusion with the annihilation of the rival family but in which he lost his beloved cousin and heir Giannettino. To the Admiral, died in 1560, succeeded Giovanni Andrea Ist (1539-1606), son of Giannettino.

Giovanni Andrea I Doria

Giovanni Andrea I (Genoa 1540-1606) was son of Giannettino Doria-designated heir of the great Andrea who did not have direct descendant and of Ginetta Centurione. Starting from 1547, when Giannettino was killed during the Fieschi’s conspiracy, the old Andrea took charge of the education of the kid, designed at the succession after his father’s death. When he was eight Giovanni Andrea was brought on the galleys to accustom him to the life on the sea and to his future Admiral role. To guard the solidity of the heritage and the influence of the family, when The Doria was ten years old, marriage pacts were established, uniting him with Zenobia del Carretti, nephew in-law of Andrea; The union determined for dynastic reasons was however characterized by sincere affection, proved by the redaction of the will of Giovanni Andrea, who required to be buried holding in his hand a lock of hair of his wife “Madam and real Friend” (Borghesi 1996). At the death of Andrea (1560) Giovanni Andrea inherited the villa of Fasolo, the nobility titles and the galleys. For almost half a century he fought at sea serving the Spanish crown and often battled against the Barbary Corsairs. In Lepanto (1571) he commanded the right wing of the fleet that, under the orders of Don Giovanni D’Austria, inferred a great defeat to the Turks (in that occasion he received heavy critics from his Venetian allies). In 1583 Filippo II nominated him Supreme Captain of the Mediterranean’s Fleet, in 1594 he became member of the Spanish’s State Council. He held an important role in the Genoese state in which he was considered a reference point from the Spanish. In December of 1601 the senate accorded him with special honours, between which the conferring of the title of “patriae libertatis conservator” and the erection of a celebratory statue. His fortune, a lot greater than the one inherited from Andrea, was so vast to have him defined, in that same year1601, “rich above every excellency of Italy and hated from everybody except the king”; at his death he was evaluated 1.620.000 scudi. His real estate properties were remarkable: Besides the villa of Fassolo, from him expanded and enriched with new decorations, Giovanni Andrea owned the Doria Villa in Pegli, a monumental building in Strada Nuova (Palazzo Tursi, actual municipal building of Genoa) and two houses in the medieval curia of the Doria, piazza San Matteo. Above that there were the several feuds: the state of Melfi, in which he held the title of Prince, Loano and the Apennine feuds. Exponent, along with his wife Zenobia, Of the Counter-Reformation catholic devotion, following the dictate of the Apostolic Visitor Bossi, the Doria founded and renewed and provided various religious buildings: thanks to him the Church of San Benedetto, next to the Villa del Principe, was expanded and restored; he founded the monastery of the Sacred Spirit in Genoa and in Loano the church and convent of Sant’Agostino, and the Carmelo complex, finished by his son Giovanni Andrea II; as well as the creation in the Fassolo Villa of various chapels that start the theme of sacred decorations of the villa. Giovanni Andrea was able to realize completely the ambitious project of introducing his family in the network of the great European Nobility. He received in the Villa del Principe the Duke of Brunswick (1578) the Duchess of Lorena (1579) and other important characters. During his last years of life he wrote his autobiography that remained unfinished, but was an important source of information on the events of Genoa and of Spain at the time.