GANDOLFI, Gaetano
(b. 1734, S Matteo della Decima, d. 1802, Bologna)

Portrait of a Young Man

1768-75
Oil on canvas, 45 x 36 cm
Private collection

This portrait represents a young man, bust-length, wearing a red cap and gesturing to the viewer. It is one of Gandolfi's intimate and informal head and bust-length studies in oils of boys, youths and girls, some of the former his own children. While many of his subjects look out at the viewer, the direct gaze and projecting gesturing right hand in the present work is unusually arresting.