Portrait of Lorenzo de' Lorenzi

Portrait of Lorenzo de' Lorenzi, attributed to Botticelli and dated around 1492, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, depicts a Florentine man in the three-quarter format that had largely displaced the older profile convention by the 1490s, under the influence of Flemish portraiture transmitted through Ghirlandaio and other painters. Lorenzo de' Lorenzi was a member of the Florentine merchant class; his portrait commissioned from Botticelli signals both his wealth and his cultural aspirations. By 1492 — the year Lorenzo the Magnificent died, Columbus reached America, and the political world Botticelli had served began to dissolve — the painter was entering his late, more spiritually intense phase influenced by Savonarola's preachings.

Tempera or oil on panel with the three-quarter portrait format showing the sitter turned slightly toward the viewer, his features recorded with the combination of idealization and psychological observation that distinguished quality Florentine portraiture from workshop production. The plain or loggia background focuses attention on face and hands as the portrait's expressive centers.