Attributed to Federico Zuccari

Frederick, 1st Marquess of Bristol, by 1819, Ickworth, Bury St. Edmonds;
Thence by descent until sold
Ickworth House sale, Suffolk, Sotheby's, 11 June 1996, lot 483, as 'Cremonese School';
Acquired by the present owner in April 1999. 

Catalogue of the Valuations of Pictures the Property of the Earl of Bristol at the Warehouse of Messrs France & Banting, James Street Haymarket, taken April 19th 1819, unpublished list, no. 45, valued at £10;
The Antique Collector, 1961, p. 220.
F. Petrucci, Pittura di Ritratto a Roma. Il Seicento, Rome 2007, vol. I, p. 125.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The painting is lined and the surface is stable and flat. The paint surface has been abraded in the past and as a result is thin in some areas and subsequently augmented e.g. the background, hair ,flesh tones, the collar and the sitter's tunic; these retouchings are visible under ultra-violet light, but are excessive and somewhat imprecise in places. The impasto to the paint of the tunic's highlights are well preserved. The varnish is discoloured and its removal would improve the painting's tonality. Offered in a 17th century parcel gilt frame with some losses and worm damage."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The attribution is due to Petrucci (see Literature) who compares this portrait with another Portrait of a man formerly with Galleria Lampronti in Rome. The Lampronti painting is dated 1607, from very late in the artists's career. Although there are numerous extant portrait drawings by Zuccaro no signed or documented easel paintings in this vein have survived.

In the catalogue of the 1996 Ickworth sale Professor W.R. Rearick tentatively suggested an attribution to the young Gervasio Gatti, who was born circa 1550 and died in 1630.