ITALIAN, VENETO OR LOMBARDY, PROBABLY LAST QUARTER 15TH CENTURY, | Right profile of a Young Man

Probably collection of the Princes of Liechtenstein, (inv. no. F.374);
Alain Moatti, Paris;
acquired from the above, private collection, France.

RELATED LITERATURE
Quattrocento. Italie 1350-1523. Peintures et sculptures du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon, 1987, p. 127.

There is dirt throughout the surface which is slightly abraded in some places and with losses visible along the edges of the marble. Some natural grey veining and inclusions are visible throughout the surface, consistent with the material. Chips are visible to the high points in some places. Three restored breaks are visible in the background: a diagonal one in the upper right of the relief starting from the centre of the upper edge and ending to the upper third of the right edge, a second diagonal one in the upper left of the relief and a third diagonal one in the lower right corner. Another restored break is visible to the lower part of the right edge with a joint visible in the photo of catalogue. The man's profile has been retouched in some places, notably his nose tip, his upper and lower lips and his eye, eyebrow and chin. Fillings are visible in the centre of his shoulder, on the top and the back of his hat and in the background, just below the upper edge. Three squared slots are visible to the edges, one on the top centre and two on the lower edge, with remains of metal tenons where the relief was formerly attached to the wall. Another fixing hole is visible to the back, in the centre of the relief.
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This bust in profile is consistent with numismatic or painted portraits from the Quattrocento, such as those by Sandro Botticelli, the Bellini, Piero del Pollaiuolo and Domenico Ghirlandaio. It is stylistically comparable to the profile of Francesco Sforza (1401-1466) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 11.182.1). A similar stylized foliage pattern is carved below the bust in the medallion with Gian Galeazzo Sforza (1468-1494), in the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon (inv. no. D. 48). The present relief of a young man has been deeply drilled, amplifying the illusion of its depth.