Francesco Salviati; Portrait of a Youth; The face in full view, turned a little to the right, the hair short, and the coat fitting close to the throat, with a small upright collar; Black chalk, on prepared paper; Italian; 1540s.

It was once thought to be a study for the Portrait of the Duke of Urbino - “School of Athens”; The face in full view, and turned a little to the right, the hair short, and the coat fitting close to the throat, with a small upright collar; Highly finished in black chalk, on prepared paper. Pasted to a watermarked board.

Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce

Collections - Medici and Jonathan Richardson.

In the collection of Prince Liechtenstein, of Vienna, there was a portrait in oil of the Duke Guidobaldo, of Urbino, attributed to Raffaello, which is now missing; a photograph, however from it is to be found in the Raffaello Collection at Windsor.

The attribution of Dyce. 186 to Salviati was first made by Tancred Borenius in 1921 (see V&A exh. cat.: Henry Reitlinger, A Selection of Drawings by Old Masters in the Museum Collections, HMSO 1921, cat.no. 12, pp.9-10). Borenius probably made the attribution because he was familiar with the half-length drawings of boys in Chatsworth (cf Michael Jaffe, The Devonshire Collection. Tuscan and Umbrian Schools, London 1994, cat. nos. 63, 64, p. 94) which had long been attributed to Salviati (at least since Henry Reveley, who died in 1798 - his “Notices” were published in 1820). Albeit in red chalk, their technique looks very similar to Dyce. 186. The most striking similarities are the latter’s heavily lidded, prominent eyes, sideways glance and the drawing of the eyebrows, pursed lips and the profile of their chins, all of which closely resemble Dyce.186. It is possible that the Chatsworth ‘boy with a round cap, against a curtain (Jaffe 64) depicts the same sitter as that in Dyce. 186.

The possible provenance from Jonathan Richardson is pertinent, on account of his role in the formation of the Devonshire collection.

DYCE.186