(San Matteo della Decima 1734–1802 Bologna)
Head of a man,
oil on canvas, 40.5 x 33 cm, framed

We are grateful to Donatella Biagi Maino for endorsing the attribution of the present painting. Her written analysis accompanies the present painting.

Gaetano Gandolfi painted this sketch of a young man with striking immediacy and naturalism. It seems likely to have been painted from life. Gaetano, together with his brother Ubaldo (1728–1781) and son Mauro (1764–1834), all practiced portraiture, Gaetano and Ubaldo being particularly prolific. He was enrolled at the Accademia Clementina in Bologna at the age of seventeen and studied under Felice Torelli and Ercole Lelli. Gaetano’s earliest paintings are close in style to the early work of his brother Ubaldo. His visit to Venice in 1760 signalled a turning point in Gaetano’s career, when he absorbed the influence of Venetian painting, especially of the work of Piazzetta and Tiepolo. Back in Bologna, he became one of the leading artists of the city.

In addition to altarpieces, ceiling decorations, and canvases with mythological subjects, Gandolfi painted bust-length images of men and women from various walks of life. Unlike formal portraits for paying clients, these character studies allowed the artist to explore diverse emotions, expressions, and facial types. This example shows Gandolfi’s fast and lively brushwork, which is particularly evident in the sitter’s physiognomy, but also the collar and the cap.

Gandolfi’s head studies had a variety of functions. Some were painted from life and were intended as works of art per se. Some heads were given attributes and turned into allegorical figures, such as his Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, all in a private collection. Other heads were produced as 'teste di carattere', and though painted from life they are somewhat romanticised. Many heads were painted as studies for figures to be inserted into larger compositions and the figures were therefore painted with a specific pose and location in mind. The present painting would appear to have been solely intended as a work of art in itself and not as a preparatory study for a larger composition. Gandolfi’s decidedly modern focus on the psychological expression is entirely in keeping with the dawn of a new era in art.

The smooth rendering of the facial features, the light touches of ‘biacca’, which illuminate the point of the nose, the left forehead and the areas under the eyes, together with the intense expression of the man looking towards the viewer with half-closed lips, can also be noted in other works by the artist. Biagi Maino has observed that the confident handling of the paint and the fluid brushstrokes are consistent with Gaetano’s artistic production in the 1780s. In handling and colouring, painting swiftly and skilfully, Gandolfi experimented with strong colours, soft and indistinct contours – such as the present faces’ only barely visible right outline – and a bold handling of paint, characterised by luminous impasto. This is especially noticeable in the execution of the mouth in the present example, which Gandolfi painted with a vibrant red in what appear to be only a few securely placed strokes of the brush.