Italian, North, 'Portrait of a Man in a Large Black Hat', probably 1520s

The subject of this portrait was once described as Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529), the renowned humanist and author of The Book of the Courtier, who was most famously portrayed by Raphael in a painting now in the Louvre, Paris. However, there is no evidence to support this theory.

The unidentified bearded man is depicted bust length turned slightly towards the left. He does not look at us but gazes obliquely into the distance. His right hand holds the edge of his black robe, revealing a small gold ring with a green stone on his little finger. He wears sober, unostentatious clothes, and a black skullcap with a large black hat.

The composition is based on implied diagonal lines that follow the angles of the man’s hat and shoulders and cross in the centre of the panel, focusing our attention on his face. The colour palette is restricted to black, buff-brown and white, with what appears to be the sweep of a red curtain on the right. The colour of his jacket is echoed in the background, and the white arrow of his pleated shirt points to his face, framed between the black zones of his cloak and hat. The painting is damaged and the varnish covering it has discoloured, affecting its appearance.

The portrait was formerly thought to be by the Lombard artist Girolamo Savoldo. It has also been connected with portraits from the 1520s by the Venetian painter Marco Basaiti, which present the sitter in a similar way. However, the condition of the picture makes it difficult to tell with any certainty who painted it. There is a nineteenth-century copy at Burghley House, probably made when our portrait was sold from the collection of the Marquess of Exeter; another version, surely also a copy and formerly in the collection of Prince Galitzin, St Petersburg, appeared on the art market in 2019.