Giorgione (c.1477-1510)
Ragazzo con la freccia (Boy with an Arrow)
c.1505
Oil on poplar, 48 × 41.8 × 2.6 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
This bust of an idealized young man with a rich mane of curls and an arrow in his right hand is difficult to interpret: although the arrow may point to Eros, an ideal portrait of the “handsome” St. Sebastian with his attribute cannot be ruled out. The soft sfumato, the delicate colours shining out of the darkness increase the poetic charm of his rapturous expression and make the picture an icon of youthful beauty. (KHM)