Portrait of a Man

One of Tintoretto’s finest formal portraits, this painting depicts an unknown sitter now believed to be a German or Flemish merchant living in Venice. His bowl-cut hairstyle and clean-shaven cheeks distinguish him from bearded Italian contemporaries. Seated in an X-frame Savonarola chair, he strikes a commanding presence gazing directly at the viewer. Conservation treatment has revealed the lively brushwork in the folds of the cloak, and analysis suggests he worked from life with assured, gestural brushwork and few changes from his initial sketch on the canvas. Tintoretto was praised by contemporaries for the prestezza, or speed, with which he captured the likeness of his sitters, lending his portraits an acute psychological presence.