Portrait of a Man as Saint George c. 1620s

Giuseppe Caletti painted this oil on canvas, Portrait of a Man as Saint George, in the mid-seventeenth century. This is a work which testifies to a shift in thinking about the social function of portraiture. It was made in Italy, a place in which, at this time, the church and aristocratic families used art as a means of demonstrating their divine right to be in positions of power. We see here, though, a more secular and progressive conception of the individual. The man portrayed appears not as a religious figure, but as an ordinary man who is capable of saintly deeds. To understand better this artwork, we can turn to historical archives and political pamphlets. These will help to illuminate the complex interplay of power, religion and social change in seventeenth-century Italy. This portrait is more than just a picture, it's a social document.