Young Man in a White Ruff

Giovanni Battista Moroni, (1520/24-1578) was most important painter of the 16th-century school of Bergamo, Italy, and is best known for his portraits, which feature a naturalistic rendering of both faces and costume and an intuitive ability to render character. Among the portraits of the early 1560s are his Portrait of a Left-Handed Gentleman with Two Quartos and a Letter (London, National Gallery) a three-quarter length portrait in which a young man, looks with directness and a certain intimacy towards the viewer, an approach which recalls CAI.102 and typifies Moroni’s refusal to engage in a more elaborate rhetoric of display.