The visual legacy of early modern cardinals constitutes a vast and extremely rich body of artworks – many of superb quality – in a variety of media. Despite the wealth of images of cardinals and the clear relevance of these works to a variety of disciplines, there is no comprehensive study dedicated to the subject of cardinal portraits: existing scholarship consists of a handful of articles and an exhibition, which primarily approach the topic from a formal perspective. The late Clare Robertson, to whom this volume is dedicated, highlighted this in her chapter on the subject in the recent Companion to the Early Modern Cardinal, asserting that cardinal portraits form ‘a significant subset’ of early modern portraiture, and noting the limited scholarship on the topic.

It is the aim of the essays in the present volume to investigate portraits of cardinals as a distinct category within early modern portraiture and as a specific art historical phenomenon. Examining in what ways the production, collection, and status of such portraits were influenced by a set of identities, experiences, values, and interests unique to cardinals as a group, the followingessays complement the scholarship on the history of cardinals undertaken in the Companion volume. While the chronological parameters of our inquiry are slightly more restricted, running from the accession of Martin V in 1420 until the death of Innocent X in 1655, we also employ the term ‘early modern’ to characterize the period, primarily for its flexibility and convenience. In these years, around 675 men from a wide range of socio-economic and geographic backgrounds – although predominantly from the Italian peninsula – passed through the Sacred College. The likenesses of many of them were constructed, either of their own volition or at the request of others; in many cases more than one portrait was executed and in more than one medium.