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Portrait of a Young Man with a Book

Agnolo Bronzino, 1530s

Agnolo Bronzino's Portrait of a Young Man with a Book, painted in the 1530s, belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of The H. O. Havemeyer Collection. It shows a young man dressed in black, poised and self-contained, with a book in his hand. It rewards slow looking, because much of its interest lies in small details: hands, pages and carved ornament.

Where to see it

The painting is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of The H. O. Havemeyer Collection, and its listed location is Gallery 638. Displays change, and works are sometimes moved or temporarily taken off view, so check the museum's official website for current display status before you visit. The picture measures 95.6 cm high by 74.9 cm wide. This is large enough to read from across the room, but the details are best seen up close.

What to look for in person

A face of cool composure

Start with the sitter's face. Bronzino gives the young man smooth, pale skin and a calm, rather distant gaze, and the head is turned slightly from the body. There is little visible emotion. The effect is controlled and reserved, as if the sitter were presenting a carefully chosen version of himself. Notice how the dark clothing frames the face and makes it stand out against the background. This elegant restraint is typical of Bronzino's portraits and of the refined Florentine taste of his time.

The hands and the book

Next, look down at the hands, which carry as much meaning as the face. One hand holds the book, with a finger slipped between the pages, as though the young man has just paused in his reading. The other hand rests on his hip, in a confident and self-assured pose. Bronzino paints the fingers long and graceful, a stylised elegance found throughout his work. The book itself presents the sitter as a person of learning and culture, an identity that educated young men of the period valued.

Carved ornament in the setting

Then turn to the furniture and architecture around the figure. Bronzino placed the young man in a sober, architectural interior. Look closely at the carved furniture, where you can find grotesque, mask-like faces worked into the decoration. These fanciful details are easy to miss from a distance. They create a quiet contrast with the sitter's restraint: the room seems more lively and strange than the person in it. Moving between the face and these carvings is one of the pleasures of standing in front of the painting.

About the painting

Agnolo Bronzino was a Florentine painter trained in the circle of Jacopo Pontormo. He became one of the leading portraitists of sixteenth-century Florence. His style is usually described as Mannerist. It favours polished surfaces, elongated and elegant forms, cool colour and a sense of emotional distance. Portrait of a Young Man with a Book dates from the 1530s, a period when Bronzino was establishing the portrait manner that later made him a favoured painter in courtly Florentine circles. The picture measures 95.6 by 74.9 centimetres. It shows the young man at a scale that feels close to a real encounter, yet the formality of the pose keeps the viewer at a respectful remove. The painting belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of The H. O. Havemeyer Collection. For visitors, it works well as an introduction to how Renaissance portraits communicate status and character without words. Clothing, posture, setting and objects all contribute. The book suggests education and cultivated interests. The hand on the hip suggests confidence. The dark clothing implies sober elegance. The carved ornament shows the painter's wit and invention. Give yourself a few minutes in front of it. View it first from a distance to take in the striking silhouette against the background, then step closer to study the hands, the pages of the book and the carvings in the furniture. Check the museum's official website before your visit to confirm that the painting is on view.

Key facts

More by Agnolo Bronzino

• Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo and her son Giovanni de' Medici — Uffizi Gallery

Sources

• Wikidata Q3937730
• www.metmuseum.org
• engage.metmuseum.org