FLORENTINE SCHOOL (16TH CENTURY)PORTRAIT OF A MUSICIAN WITH A LUTE Oil on poplar 52 x 37cm (20¼ x 14½ in.)Provenance: Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 23 November 2018, lot 134 (as Tuscan School 16th century)This striking portrait of a man, proudly holding his lute and confidently wearing a large embroidered hat, is a defining example of 16th-century Florentine portraiture. Strong similarities can be seen in the direct gaze of the sitter, the prominent hat (which became visible after the cleaning of the background following the painting's acquisition in 2018), and the handling of the paint, with a portrait once attributed to Jacopo Carucci, known as Pontormo, from the Mainoni Baldovinetti Collection, and registered in the Fototeca Zeri as no. 35525 (Fig. 1).Artists in 16th-century Florence were known to gather in intimate cultural circles alongside poets, musicians, and merchants. These gatherings often involved the reading of Dante, Petrarch, and classical authors, as well as musical performances and recitations. One probable locus of such activity was the Oratory of Saint Cecilia in Fiesole, just outside Florence.The sitter may be envisioned as a member of these cultural circles, confidently exhibiting his erudition through the presence of the lute. Music was a sign of cultural accomplishment, prized by artists and the elite, and it was not uncommon for sitters to pose with their musical instrument (see for example Pontormo's Portrait of Man with a Lute in the Alana Collection, Newark, Delaware) The present painting is registered in the Fototeca Zeri (no. 36591), prior to its restoration, as the work of Zacchia di Antonio da Vezzano, known as Zacchia the Elder or Paolo Zacchia (active 1519-1561). This attribution was originally proposed by Giuliano Briganti.
Oil on poplar