(Sansepolcro 1536–1603 Florence)
Portrait of a young boy of the Florentine nobility, wearing a richly embroidered doublet hose,
oil on panel, 116.8 x 86.3 cm, framed

Provenance:
Greenville, Bob Jones University (as Santi di Tito);
sale, Christie's, London, 22nd March 1978, lot 197

We are grateful to Francesca Baldassari for confirming the attribution (a certificate is available).

The present painting is registered in the Fototeca Zeri (no. 34716) as Santi di Tito. However, Francesca Baldassari has suggested that it is a work by Santi di Tito´s son Tiberio Tito.

This impressive portrait of a young boy is a characteristic work by the artist and a number of children’s‘ likenesses by Tito have survived, who appears to have been much in demand for this particular type of portraiture.
Tiberio di Tito was the son and pupil of the late-Mannerist painter Santi di Tito, who died in 1603, and whose tonal range and workshop practices he emulated.

He was extensively patronized by the ruling house of Medici. Along with Cristofano Allori, he appears to have been a favourite portraitist at the court before the arrival of Justus Sustermans. His career as a Medici portraitist lasted until at least 1621, when Sustermans was appointed court painter. His best-known portrait of children, now in the Uffizi, was painted in 1597 of the Medici: Carlo (1596-1666); Eleonora (1591-1617) and Francesco (1594-1614). These, and especially the portrait of Francesco as Baldassari notes, have very strong analogies, both technically and compositionally, with the present painting.