One of the most strikingly original painters of the early seicento, Tanzio da Varallo combined the innovations of Caravaggio (whose style had developed in the same tradition of Lombard painting) with his own more vigorous and eccentric idiom. He trained in his native Varallo with his older brothers, the sculptor Giovanni and the fresco painter Melchiorre d’Enrico, but left in early 1600 for Rome. It is there that he come into contact with the prevailing Caravaggesque style. Tanzio is also believed to have made a trip to Naples and the Abruzzi, returning to his native town around 1615. His work is defined by the combination of the Caravaggesque realism he learnt on his travels South, with the modified elegance of Lombard Late Mannerism.


This extraordinary portrait is especially remarkable for the meticulous treatment of the details of the sitter’s elegant costume, in particular the exquisite rendering of the dramatic ruff and matching cuff and the soft leather gloves with their glimpses of red lining. The influence of Caravaggesque painting is evident in the exceptionally realistic depiction of the face and hands. The dense application of colour, and darting highlights alternating with intense shadows, bring an emotional force and sense of barely suppressed tension to the striking visage of the young, moustachioed man, while the splendid hands with their long, bony fingers hold the gloves with a nervous, animated intensity. Lamentably, the identity of the sitter, who trains his inquisitive stare upon the viewer, remains a mystery.


Dated by Marco Tanzi to Tanzio’s Neapolitan sojourn, the authorship of this remarkable work has been unanimously recognised since its recent appearance on the art market in 2015–16.


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