Portrait of a Young Man (Botticelli, London)

Portrait of a Young Man (Ritratto virile) is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, c. 1483. It is housed in the National Gallery in London.

Portrait of a Young Man
ArtistSandro Botticelli
Yearc. 1483
MediumTempera on panel
Dimensions37.5 cm × 28.3 cm (14.8 in × 11.1 in)
LocationNational Gallery, London

This panel painting is small, but significant. Before this work, subjects in Italian portraiture were either seated portrait view in profile, or seated with three-quarters of their face showing. In this painting the boy is seated head on, so his whole face can be mapped out, making this a revolutionary work for its time.[1]

This work has at various times been attributed to Giorgione, Filippino Lippi and even believed to be a self-portrait by Masaccio.[2] It is now widely accepted as a Botticelli and is his only known en face portrait. The man in the painting is a young city dweller from Florence,[3] his identity is unknown.

See also

References
  1. The National Gallery page
  2. The National Gallery page
  3. "Portrait of a Young Man, Botticelli (c1480-5)". The Guardian. 2001-11-10. Archived from the original on 2021-07-16.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.