About
The Giovio Series, also known as the Giovio Collection or Giovio Portraits, is a series of 484 portraits assembled by the 16th-century Italian Renaissance historian and biographer Paolo Giovio. It includes portraits of literary figures, rulers, statesmen and other dignitaries, many of which were done from life. Intended by Giovio as a public archive of famous men, the collection was originally housed in a specially-built museum on the shore of Lake Como. In 1551, Giovio published notices with biographical text for the portraits, under the title Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium (1551), with references but without illustrations. Only 39 paintings remain from the original collection, which are now located in the Pinacoteca Comunale of Como.
