Follower of Jacques-Louis David

First recorded in the collection of Maurice Cantoni (1864–1934), great-grandson of the presumed sitter;
Thence by family descent;
With Simon Dickinson, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 10 December 2009, lot 209, where acquired.

Brussels, Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, David et son temps, 1925–26, no. 10;
Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries and Versailles, Musée du Château, David. Exposition en l'honneur du deuxième centenaire de sa naissance, June – September 1948, no. 78 (as David).

R. Cantinelli, Jacques-Louis David 1748–1825, Paris and Brussels 1930, p. 117, no. 176 (as David);
K. Holma, David, son évolution et son style, Paris 1940, p. 130, no. 180 (as David);
M. Florisoone, David. Exposition en l'honneur du deuxième centenaire de sa naissance, exh. cat., Paris and Versailles 1948, no. 78 (as David);
L. Hautecoeur, Louis David, Paris 1954, p. 265, note 77.

This portrait has long been considered to be the work of Jacques-Louis David. The sitter is thought to be Lorenzo Carlo Cantoni (1749–1832) born in Mandelli, near Milan, who was recorded as living in Brussels by 1774. His descendants continued to live in the city and rose to prominence through marriage with other leading families and extensive property holdings. Cantoni's grandson, François Joseph Cantoni (1819–99) was President of the Chambre des Notaires in Brussels, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur and Chevalier de l'Ordre de Léopold. It was in the collection of his nephew and adopted son Maurice, also a notary, that the present painting was first documented.