Attributed to Daniele Crespi Busto Arsizio circa 1597 - 1630 Milan

This portrait may be compared in both style and format to a number of male bust portraits by Daniele Crespi: see, for example, his anonymous portraits in the Accademica Ligustica, Genoa, and in a private collection, and his Portrait of Antonio Olgiati also in a private collection (N. Ward Neilson, Daniele Crespi, Soncino 1996, cat. nos. 8, 65 and 64, reproduced p. 142, fig. 15A, and in colour p. 105, plates XIIIA and B respectively). All three portraits share a plasticity of form, accentuated by the sharp lighting of the head from the left, and a delicate precision in the painting of facial features and hair; all of which can be found in the present work. All portraits have been dated by Frangi to before 1625 and a similar date seems plausible here.

The attribution to Crespi has been tentatively endorsed by Nancy Ward Neilson, to whom we are grateful, on the basis of photographs.