He’s a ten but won’t let you read over his shoulder 📖 One of only a small number of portraits by Andrea del Sarto to survive, ‘Portrait of a Young Man’ is one of his masterpieces. It was painted at a time when he was the leading painter in Florence, after Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo had all left the city. A young man sits in a chair reading a book with his back to us. We have interrupted him, and he turns to look over his shoulder at us. The turning pose and unguarded look give the portrait a feeling of immediacy; this is only a momentary glance before he turns away from us again to resume his reading. His elbow rests on the arm of the chair and partly projects into our space, creating a strong diagonal running from the top right to bottom left of the composition. His voluminous blue sleeve has an almost sculptural form and is the pivotal point around which his turning pose rotates. We don't know the sitter’s identity. The painting was first documented as belonging to the Puccini family in 1821 and was recorded at their palace in Pistoia. Giovan Battista Puccini was one of Andrea del Sarto’s patrons, but he would have been in his mid-fifties by 1517 when this picture was painted, so it is unlikely that the portrait is of him. Andrea del Sarto, 'Portrait of a Young Man', about 1517-18 © The National Gallery, London. #NationalGallery #Portrait #ArtHistory