Portrait of a Young Man was painted by Angolo Bronzino between the years of 1503-1572. The portrait is 37 5/8 by 29 ½ inches and is an oil on wood Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. I picked this painting because of the self assurance, at first glance, of the young man that is depicted. This appealed to me because it reflected my own attitude. After studying the portrait for a considerable amount of time I began to see possible sadness or self-doubt in the young mans face that betrays his powerful stance. I felt a connection to the young man, knowing all too well what it was like to present a powerful outside image while knowing there was a self conscious and scared person inside.
The main image of the portrait is the young man. He is wearing a long black jacket, in the style of the sixteenth century, with part of a white ruffled collar and cuffs peeking out of his jacket. He is also wearing a black and what appears to be a beaded beret. He has a light complexion. His oval shaped face contains an oval shaped dark eyes with light, rounded eyebrows. He has an elongated nose with an indentation underneath it. He has peach colored lips and a clefted chin.
He is slightly turned towards the viewer. His left hand is resting on his waist, the fingers are spread apart except for his middle and ring fingers, they”re close together and his right hand is holding a poetry book Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999 with his index finger between the pages. Under his left arm there is the arm of a brown chair with a monsters face and supporting his right arm is an ornate, plum colored table with another monsters
An Artistic Evaluation 1
An Artistic Evaluation:
Portrait Of A Young Man
Samantha Sauri
Prof. Vrachopoulos
Art 101
February, 28, 1999
3 head worked into the side. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the monster heads that are found on the furniture and on the folds of the young mans clothing, which I was unable to locate, allude to literary references that would have been appreciated by the artist”s friends. In the background there is a green colored room, that includes a door frame, a Doric column and a capital.
Portrait of a Young Man was painted during the Mannerism period. It was done by Bronzino in Italy c.1540. The portrait is 37 5/8 by 29 ½ inches, it”s vertical because it”s a portrait. The frame cuts the shapes in the painting, this was done purposely in the typical Mannerism style which usually crowded the pictorial area . The painting is supported by wood, opaque oil paints were applied thickly with a fine brush, I was unable to see any distinct brush strokes. The forms are flat except for the beads on the young man”s hat which seem to raise off the painting.
The portrait contains a simple organization. There are few individual units like the chair and table but the picture is crowded. The shapes are regular and complete with clear defining lines. The painting is geometrically ordered, the chair and table appear to support and reinforce the pose of the young man.The palette the artist used is subdued, plain and limited in contrast to the Mannerists usual conflicting, bright colors. The two dominant colors are black and green. These colors fall into the neutral and cool section of the color spectrum. The light source is subtle and outside the picture but the portrait contains no shadowing. The space is shallow and screened, the perspective is linear 4 causing the young man to be not only the emphasis but to appear close to the observer.
The young man is stationary, aloof and is shown from the mid-thigh up. He is dressed in formal tight clothing that gives no indication of whom he is or where he is from. It is possible that the portrait is a cabinet picture which would account for the somber mood of the portrait. I felt a connection and an understanding with the painting. The young man is supposed to relay a certain image, the image of power and self assurance but it gave an aura of apprehension. It appealed to the humane and knowledgeable aspect of my soul. The evaluation helped me to understand how art conveys images and feelings and how to identify them. I previously didn”t know how to detect these aspects of art, I admired paintings for their esthetic value but not their spiritual value. This project helped me appreciate that.
