Lombard painter (Bergamo) 18th century - inv. 1541

This is a good quality painting, although both the artist and the sitter are still unknown. The man is wearing clothes used at that time by people from Dalmatia, although ‘exotic’ dress was also worn on occasions by the Italian aristocracy, especially in Lombardy, as testified to by a number of portraits by Fra’ Galgario.

Restoration in 2003 brought to light sophisticated colour harmonies, visible above all in the combination of the long camel-coloured tail coat alongside the light blue undercoat, on which an elegant red necktie stands out. Recently it was proposed by Mauro Natale (oral communication) that the clothes were painted by Fra’ Galgario while the face was the work of another, possibly Milanese, painter who had a less dense stroke and a dryer drawing style.

J.S.