Whoever the sitter was, this is an extraordinary portrait of a young nobleman. He emerges from a very dark background, a youth of commanding beauty, dressed elegantly as if for a betrothal or a marriage. The exquisite white velvet cap is placed with studied elegance to the left side of his head. His long hair is worn in a fashion known as zazzara, the coppery curls painted with golden highlights; and there is the suggestion in the play of light that the curls are held in place by a golden hairnet. The white undershirt of pleated linen has an embroidered collar with a motif in black thread on a gold background. His waistcoat in contrasting colours of gold and black is tied with a black ribbon. The coat presents a similar play of golden satin and black velvet, reversed colours to either side. His sideways gaze avoids the spectator in what might be described as a sign of anticipation, or excitement as to whom he is about to encounter. His pouting full lips suggest desire.

On 23 May 1856 Giovanni Morelli wrote to his friend Count Niccolò Antinori to boast that he had acquired two works, a Madonna and Child by Mantegna,[1] and this gorgeous portrait which had been attributed to no less a figure than Leonardo—for on the reverse of the panel there is an old inscription: ‘DI LEONARDO DA VINCI FIORENTINO Pittore’. Both the Mantegna and this Leonardesque portrait are of exceptional quality, which Morelli recognised in the gloating letter to Antinori:

Do you know my good friend that I am surrounded by the most precious paintings that you can imagine, and among them two that are real jewels: the portrait of a young man that I bought and paid for as a work by Marco d’Oggiono, but which appears to me to be more like the master [Leonardo da Vinci] than the pupil, and a Madonna by Mantegna.[2]

Morelli attributed the portrait to one of Leonardo’s most gifted Lombard followers, Ambrogio de Predis.[3]

That Morelli valued the painting extremely highly is attested not only in his correspondence, but also in the inventories of his collection. He repeatedly made reference to the fact that this was one of the greatest works he owned, and he made it the keystone for his reconstruction of the oeuvre of Ambrogio de Predis—who is documented, together with his brother Evangelista, as having collaborated with Leonardo da Vinci on the side panels of the Virgin of the rocks.[4] This opinion prevailed after Morelli’s death in the inventory put together by the great Milanese dealer, Giuseppe Baslini,[5] where the portrait was given a very high value in the collection, some 5,000 scudi.

Jaynie Anderson

[1] Andrea Mantegna (1430/1431–1506), Madonna and Child late 1490s, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan.

[2] Giacomo Agosti, ‘Giovanni Morelli corrispondente di Niccolò Antinori’, in Studi e ricerche di collezionismo e museografia Firenze 1820–1920. Quaderni del Seminario di Storia della Critica d’Arte, vol. 4, 1985, p. 30.

[3] Simone Facchinetti, Botticelli, Bellini, Guardi … Chefs-d’œuvre de l’Accademia Carrara de Bergame, Paris: Editions Hazan, 2010, pp. 82–83.

[4] Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Virgin of the rocks 1508, National Gallery, London.

[5] Jaynie Anderson, Collecting, connoisseurship and the art market in Risorgimento Italy. Giovanni Morelli’s letters to Giovanni Melli and Pietro Zavaritt (1866–1872),Venice: Istituto Veneto, 1999, p. 189.