Tintoretto, Jacopo (1518-1594)
Ritratto di giovane nobile (Portrait of a young nobleman)
1551
Oil on canvas, 138.4 x 106.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
This impressive and engaging portrait of a young nobleman, possibly a member of the Spinola Family, has long been recognized as an early work by Jacopo Tintoretto. Dated 1551, this painting can be placed during one of the most important periods of Tintoretto’s development as a portrait painter. The same year this work was completed, Tintoretto replaced Titian as the official portraitist of the Venetian Republic—a position he secured through his social connections, the quality of his work, and the speed of his execution. What is clearly visible in the present work, though, with its deep tones and its air of noble simplicity, is how indebted Tintoretto was to the elder Titian during these formative years of his career. (Sotheby’s)