This small panel dates from around 1502, during the early career of Bergamo painter Andrea Previtali. At this time he was greatly influenced by his teacher, Giovanni Bellini, as the Latin signature on the back of the painting suggests: ‘Andreas Cordelle Agi Discipulus Iohannis Bellini Pinxit’. The painter was nicknamed ‘Cordeliaghi’ because his father sold cords (corde) and needles (aghi).

Although the identity of the subject is unknown, the hairstyle and hat suggest he was Venetian. The bright background and dark mass of the hair and cap contrast with the delicate shading of the face.

Painted on the other side of the panel is a skull and the Latin inscription ‘This is beauty, this is the form that remains. This law is the same for all’, pointing clearly to the transience of earthly beauty and youth, almost as a counterpoint to the intensity of the man’s gaze. The fact that the skull is painted upside-down on the reverse of the portrait suggests that the panel was originally placed on a rotatable support.