Portrait of a Man

Andrea Solari, who was a leading Milanese painter who absorbed Leonardo's sfumato technique during his years in Milan, created this work around 1497, now in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Portrait painting emerged as a major genre during the fifteenth century, reflecting the growing emphasis on individual identity and the secular confidence of the merchant and aristocratic classes. Andrea Solari, active in Milan, brought mature Renaissance mastery to the art of portraiture.

The sitter is rendered with individualized features and careful attention to dress and accessories, employing the luminous flesh tones and controlled lighting that characterize accomplished fifteenth-century portrait painting.