Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Ritratto di giovane uomo (Portrait of a Young Man)
c.1482–1485
Tempera on panel, 43.5 x 46.2 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
This vertical portrait shows the head, shoulders, and chest of a young man with smooth, pale skin and shoulder-length, dark blond hair positioned behind a narrow gray, stone ledge. Shown against a black background, the man tilts his head to our left and his eyes cut to our right. His left eyebrow, on our right, is slightly arched over brown eyes. He has a long, straight nose, pale pink lips, and his hair falls down the sides of his face from beneath a crimson-red, flat-topped cap. He wears a brown garment with white linen peeking through at the shoulder seams. The neck and seam down the front are lined with white, perhaps fur. He holds his right hand to his chest with his middle finger overlapping his ring finger. (NGA)