Portrait of a Young Man with a White Ruff Collar

According to the inscription, the boy was 18 when his portrait was painted. This official bust portrait could serve as a strict recording of appearance. The precise modeling of the face, the clear recording of shapes, the carefully depicted clothing and the introverted personality are presented with cold detachment. The illuminated face and festive clothing stand out against a neutral background. 

The model is turned slightly to the left so that he would not be looking directly at the viewer. The colors are also quite reserved. Only the parts which are absolutely essential for the portrait and the places which articulate voluminous shapes are highlighted. 

This thoughtful and harmonious work follows many prototypes of official portrait painting. A master prepared this work for an educated and noble society. The portrait style is similar to that of an adult portrait and suggests the weight of serious problems on the boy’s shoulders. 

Many anatomical inaccuracies in the depiction and the clumsy position of the head in relation to the shoulders and the discrepancy in the background are obvious. Any effort to record the state of mind is absent, which calls the accuracy of earlier attributions into question. An older depiction of a very similar subject, the portrait of an unknown young man in Milan (Pinacoteca di Brera), is attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto (1519–1594). The style and expressed reservations speak in favor of a work close to Domenico Tintoretto. 
 

Zuzana Ludiková ● LUDIKOVÁ, Zuzana - BURAN, Dušan. Talianska maľba = Italian Painting. Bratislava : Slovenská národná galéria, 2013. 242 strán. ISBN 9788080591748.