# Portrait of a Young Man [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ANDREA DEL SARTO]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 72 x 57 cm ## Commentary Portrait of a Young Man c. 1517 Oil on canvas, 72 x 57 cm National Gallery, London The subject of this famous portrait - formerly thought to be a self-portrait - is an unknown young man looking up from his book.Daylight enters as if through a high and narrow window on our left. Brilliant on the gathered shirt, reflections from which define the curve of the jaw and the twist of the neck, it casts deep shadows on the eye sockets, smoulders in the dark eyes, shapes the skull under the triangular hat, lends mobility and colour to the distinctive features. The twisting pose is at once momentary and stable. ## Related artworks - [Annunciation \(detail\)]() - [Annunciation \(detail\)]() - [Annunciation]() - [Assumption of the Virgin \(detail\)]() - [Assumption of the Virgin \(Poppi Altarpiece\)]() - [Assumption of the Virgin]() - [Assumption of the Virgin]() - [Baptism of the People]() - [Birth of the Virgin]() - [Charity]() - [Christ the Redeemer]() - [Disputation on the Trinity]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()