(Bologna 1529–1592)
Portrait of a young man as a saint,
inscribed upper right: F./ A.,
oil on panel, 20.5 x 14.2 cm, framed

Provenance:
European private collection

We are grateful to Angela Ghirardi for fully confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a photograph. Ghirardi dates the present painting to the 1580s, a period in which Passerotti was the pre-eminent painter in Bologna.

This work displays Passerotti’s interest in depicting his subject in a naturalistic manner, here demonstrated by the representation of the anonymous sitter in the guise of a saint. The present work is defined by the manner in which the face is turned towards the viewer, lending the composition a more dynamic character, and illustrating, although subtly, Passerotti’s interest in portraying his figures in action and movement. The liveliness of the execution and the bright colours, rendered with thin brushstrokes on the face and clothing, are typical of the artist’s work. His first experiments with genre painting probably date from this period and his production of such works served as an important point of reference for the young Annibale Carracci.

Passerotti was born in Bologna and travelled to Rome twice in his early period. By 1560 he had settled in Bologna where he established a workshop. The earliest documented Bolognese paintings by the artist show a pictorial language influenced by Correggio and Parmigianino, and an anatomical interest in powerful figures similar to that of Pellegrino Tibaldi. Passerotti’s painting reflects his active involvement in Bologna’s cultural life during the latter half of the 16th century. Naturalist Ulisse Aldovrandi’s scientific curiosity is reflected in portraits such as The Botanist (Rome, Galleria Spada), and The Family Group (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum).