Explore the Description of the painting of this artwork.
The painting, thought to have been completed c. 1480, is believed to represent the beauty ideals of  Renaissance Florentine high society. The young man's tunic is of a simple, fine quality with a blue color very rare at the time. The work was painted in tempera on poplar wood with a width of 38.9  cm and a height of 58.7  cm. The figure of the bearded saint in the trecento medallion was added after the portrait was completed and is believed to be an original by Bartolomeo Bulgarini, also known as the "Ovile Master". The medallion is very similar to other works by Bulgarini with a presumption that it was originally trimmed from a rectangular trecento. The young man is portrayed in front of a window frame in which the artist has fashioned a series of color planes. The inner frame is a uniform grey color, and appears to have a bright blueish tone to the left with a darker grey one in the right so the colors seem to change from left to right. One of the young man's fingers, supporting the medallion from below, rests on a bright grey strip at the bottom of the painting.  The hand acts as a repoussoir that provides the illusion that the medallion is in another level within the painting.
tunic Florentine trecento Renaissance Bartolomeo Bulgarini repoussoir