Portrait of a Notable

Traditionally the sitter is identified as the poet Gerolamo Casio, who is depicted demonstrably by Boltraffio in the portrait now in the Brera, Milan. However, since the portrait is without any attribute alluding to the poet or his work, the identification is by no means sure.

Casio was Boltraffio’s most significant patron, commissioning a great altarpiece for the church of the Misericordia in Bologna, now in the Louvre.