A Bearded Man

We do not know this man’s identity. He wears a black pleated silk doublet with pleated sleeves, and a soft black cap, possibly made of felted wool, with black knotted braids at the edges. His white chemise with ruffled collar and cuffs is tied at the neck with a black ribbon. The costume suggests a date of about 1527–8.The man holds a folded paper in his right hand. It was not uncommon in portraits of this period to include the sitter’s name on a folded paper, as though they were holding a letter they had just received – as in, for example, Moroni’s Portrait of Canon Ludovico Terzi. However, this paper contains no traces of writing to help us identify the sitter.The portrait was formerly believed to be by the Florentine artist Pontormo, or the Venetian painter Lotto. It is damaged by extensive cracking over most parts of the canvas.