Detail of a Portrait of a Man by Andrea Solario in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, June 2010

Portrait of a Man
1490s
Andrea Solario, Italian (Milanese), about 1465–1524

Dimensions: 47.9 x 38.4 cm (18 7/8 x 15 1/8 in.)

Medium or Technique: Oil on panel

Classification: Paintings
Type: Portrait - Single - Male

Accession Number: 11.1450

Although this portrait resembles works by other Milanese followers of Leonardo da Vinci -- notice the delicate gradations of shadow and the application of paint without visible brushstrokes -- it may have been painted when Solario was working in Venice, a city where portraits were particularly popular. The sitter's stern expression and the aggressive way his fist seems to press against the frame are somewhat softened by his wispy hair and the gentle landscape visible through the arched window.

Text from: www.mfa.org/collections/object/portrait-of-a-man-31404