Portrait of a Gentleman
by CONTE, Jacopino del, Oil on panel, transferred to canvas, 111 x 86 cm
Jacopino del Conte was born in Florence where he was a pupil of Andrea del Sarto and worked independently on a number of devotional works after his master’s death in 1530. By 1538 he had settled in Rome and was a member of the Accademia di San Luca. While continuing to paint religious subjects, notably a fresco cycle for the decoration of the oratory of San Giovanni Decollato, he also turned to portraiture, eventually becoming one of Rome’s leading portrait painters.
The present portrait depicts a gentleman, three-quarter length, standing and holding a pair of gloves in his right hand, his left hand resting on a book, before a green curtain. Until 1978 the painting was attributed to Bronzino then to Alessandro Allori. The identity of the sitter, at one time thought to be Niccolò Machiavelli, remains unknown.