Bronzino: Portrait of a Young Man

This arresting portrait of an unidentified young Florentine is dated by most scholars to the 1530s. The sitter wears a black satin doublet with slashed sleeves over a white "camicia" with a ruffled collar. Both his hat and the ties supporting his codpiece are decorated with gold aglets. He stands between an elaborately decorated table and chair, both of which include grotesque masks, of considerable interest to art historians.

The numerous and important changes made by the artist as he painted are documented by the underdrawings seen with X-rays. The architectural setting was completely different: initially, a straight molding ran at a diagonal behind the sitter. The young man's right hand was originally in stricter profile and the book shown with its spine facing the viewer and covers splayed; the left hand was first painted with the thumb tucked behind the waist; the figure originally had gloves tucked into his codpiece; the face was much narrower at first. Because of the extent of these changes, it has sometimes been speculated that the painting was begun at one time and then finished later—perhaps years later.