# Portrait of a Young Man [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CATENA, Vincenzo]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Oil on wood, 31 x 24 cm ## Commentary Early Venetian portraiture is well illustrated by the Portrait of a Young Man by Vincenzo Catena. Characteristic of the tradition of portraiture established by Catena's master Bellini is the bust-length format with a blue-sky background. The painting shows the sitter in the austere, formal dress of Venice's governing class with just a hint of luxury provided by the fur lining that peeps out from under his black robe. The sitter's features are described with delicate precision, and are made to appear convincingly three-dimensional through careful modelling in light and shade. The rigid symmetry of the composition lends the sitter a certain dignity, but it precludes any effect of movement. The scale is smaller than life, and the picture is painted on wood, with smooth, virtually invisible brushstrokes. ## Related artworks - [Christ Carrying the Cross]() - [Giangiorgio Trissino]() - [Judith]() - [Madonna and Child with Saints and the Donor]() - [Santa Cristina Altarpiece]() - [The Holy Family with a Female Saint]() - [Virgin and Child with Sts Mark and Jerome]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()