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| Portrait of a Young Man |
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| X-radiograph (overall) |
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| X-radiograph (detail: table) |
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| X-radiograph (detail: right hand and book) |
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| X-radiograph (detail: left hand) |
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| X-radiograph (detail: head) |
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| Infrared reflectogram (detail: corbel) |
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| X-radiograph (detail: lower right) |
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| Infrared reflectogram (detail: right hand and book) |
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| Infrared reflectogram (detail: face) |
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| Infrared reflectogram (detail: corbel) |
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| Infrared reflectogram (detail: left hand) |
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| Painting in frame: angled corner |
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| Painting in frame: corner |
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| Painting in frame: overall |
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| Profile drawing of frame. W 5 3/4 in. 14.8 cm (T. Newbery) |
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| Back of panel, showing red wax seals |
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| Red wax seal on back of panel |
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| Red wax seals on back of panel |
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| Red wax seal on back of panel |
Portrait of a Young Man
Artist:Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano) (Italian, Monticelli 1503–1572 Florence)
Date:1530s
Medium:Oil on wood
Dimensions:37 5/8 x 29 1/2 in. (95.6 x 74.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
The sitter of this arresting portrait remains unknown, but he was part of Bronzino’s close circle of literary friends in Florence and probably holds a book of poetry. The artist was himself a poet, delighting as much in the beauty of language as he did in the witty and fanciful details of his paintings. Here, viewers would have appreciated the carved grotesque heads on the table and chair, and the almost hidden, masklike face suggested in the folds of the youth’s breeches as comments on masks and disguises. Bronzino has delineated a sophisticated visual identity for his sitter.
Provenance
Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, Rome (by 1808–16; his sale, Stanley, London, May 14–16, 1816, no. 163, as "A Florentine Gentleman," by Sebastiano del Piombo); [Charles J. Nieuwenhuys, London, from 1816]; James Alexandre, comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier, Paris (by 1841–d. 1855; cat., 1841, no. 49; his estate sale, Paris, March 27ff., 1865, no. 114, as by Sebastiano del Piombo); baron Achille Seillière, Paris and Château de Mello (1865–d. 1873); Jeanne Marguérite Seillière, princesse de Sagan, later duchesse de Talleyrand-Périgord, Paris (from 1873); M. Bourdariat, Paris (until 1898; sold for Fr 140,000 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York, 1898; sold for $40,000 to Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1898–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929)
Technical Notes
The numerous and important changes made by the artist as he painted were documented in x-radiographs as early as 1930. These have been clarified, and Bronzino's artistic process further elucidated, through new x-radiography and infrared reflectography of 2009 revealing underdrawing (see figs. 1–12 above). Most conspicuously, the architectural setting was transformed: initially a straight molding ran at a diagonal behind the sitter (the underdrawing includes a corbel below that visible now at the left to coincide with this first idea for the setting). Two types of underdrawing have been revealed. The more unusual was done, probably with the butt end of a brush, directly into the panel's thick white imprimitura, or preparation layer. It was used vigorously to describe the draped grotesque mask at the left, outlining contours but also indicating shadows with diagonal hatching. Many of the artist's original compositional ideas are indicated in this type of drawing (these can be seen as well in the x-radiograph): they include the first position of the proper right hand and book, with the hand in stricter profile and the book shown with its spine facing the viewer and covers splayed; the placement of the proper left hand with the thumb tucked behind the waist; different contours of the sleeves, collar, and cuffs of the costume; and an elaboration in the area of the codpiece, into which an article of clothing—almost certainly gloves—was originally tucked. More traditional underdrawing in black chalk or charcoal and carbon-based ink or paint applied with a brush is found throughout the head and the hands. As seen in the x-radiograph as well, drawing of the head shows its initial shape to have been much narrower but with the features identically placed (dispelling the possibility that the final version is of a second sitter). The x-radiograph also indicates changes in the furniture at right that are not easily decipherable. Because of the extent of these changes, it has sometimes been speculated that the painting was begun at one time and then finished later—perhaps years later.
Catalogue Entry
This arresting portrait of an unidentified young Florentine is dated by most scholars to the 1530s. During that decade Bronzino was often engaged in painting members of a close-knit circle of acquaintances with whom he shared literary interests, and this sitter—who so conspicuously holds open a book—may be from among that group. Vasari mentions the names of several of these sitters early in his biography of the artist and it has recently been suggested that this panel may portray Bonaccorso di Pietro Pinadori (born 1502), mentioned by the author alongside Ugolino Martelli and Lorenzo Lenzi, both of whose portraits have been identified. (An earlier hypothesis that the picture is a self-portrait has not been taken up in the literature.)
The elegant young man wears a black satin doublet, with fashionably slashed sleeves, over a white camicia with a ruffled collar, and with a brilliant blue belt. Both his hat and the ties supporting his codpiece are decorated with gold aglets, and he wears one ring. He stands between an elaborately decorated table and chair within an architectural setting meant to suggest a Florentine palace. Both pieces of furniture include grotesque masks; that of the remarkable table is stretched as if made of fabric rather than stone. A third "mask" is suggested in an insistent pattern resembling a face within the drapery of the lower part of the costume. The meaning of these grotesque masks is debated; it may be that they are in some way analogous to poetic ideas of the time and refer to identity as a kind of mask. Bronzino was himself a poet. It is clear that they are meant to provide a contrast to the sitter's refined facial features and bearing.
Andrea Bayer 2010
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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