Attributed to Francesco Albani

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 8 July 1994, lot 25 (as oil on paper laid down on canvas, by Andrea Sacchi);
There purchased by the present collector.

S. Loire, "Les visages de l'Albane," in Studi sul barocco romano. scritti i onore di Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, Milan 2004, pp. 120-121, reproduced Plate XVIII (as a possible self-portrait by Albani [?]);
C. Puglisi, in Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Catalogo Generale, Vol. III, Guido Reni e il Seicento, Venice 2008, p. 196, under cat. no. 104 (where she notes Loire's hypothesis that the painting could be another self-portrait by Albani).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is well restored and should be hung in its current condition. The canvas has been lined; the paint layer and surface are stable. The retouches are quite numerous and focused on the bottom edge and in the background around the head of the figure. These retouches do enter into the top of the forehead, above the ear on the right side of the head and in the beard and moustache in the lower left of the head. However, much of the face is well preserved. The paint layer in the collar and in a good amount of the coat is also healthy. The restorations are effective. There is no abrasion of any note; it is actual paint losses that account for the retouches.
"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."

In his article on portraits of Albani, Stéphane Loire (see Literature) was the first to speculate that this work might be a self-portrait by the artist. It relates closely in format to the self-portrait by Albani painted in circa 1635, now in the collection of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna.  The Bologna portrait, painted when the artist was around fifty-seven years old, depicts the artist with graying hair and goatee.  In the present work, which clearly depicts the same sitter, he appears to be younger, probably in his late forties which would date the work to sometime in the mid-1620s.  Albani’s style in his finished works at this period was very smooth.  The loose handling of the paint and broad brushstrokes in this portrait implies that it is most likely an oil sketch which would account for the very different technique.