A wonderful example of Antonello’s portrait painter is a portrait of a young man, performed around 1475. The background, as in his other portraits, was once dark olive, but eventually turned black. For a complete picture of this portrait, you need to add three centimeters to the bottom – so much was the cut edge of the parapet with cartellino.
The ratio of the parties was close to 3; 2. Such a proportion is not typical for busty portraits, usually to a more relaxed 4: 3 or 5: 4 relationship. Elongated format; the sonorous chord of a red cap, a muted purple jacket and a snow white shirt; arrogantly raised pale face; bright clenched lips; the cold piercing gaze – everything that is perceived instantly affects us with such force that, it seems, even a meeting with a live original could not make a stronger impression. Antonello introduced into the portrait a barely perceptible disagreement between the expressions of the far and near half of the face.
The farther, brighter lit, contrasting part of the face contrasting with the glare that flashed on the iris, as if peeping from a quieter near half. This man attentively feels the viewer with his cold appraising glance, skeptically pursing the corner of his mouth. It seems he sees the viewer through. But the near side of the face does not participate in this objective research. Slightly raised eyebrow, slightly lowered eyelid, rounding chin fold express satisfaction with the achieved understanding. With a touch of irony, he makes it clear to the viewer that he is completely transparent to him.
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