Jacopo Robusti, called Jacopo Tintoretto and Studio

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 work has not been restored for many years. The old lining is in many ways still active but there are areas of instability along the bottom edge and center of the right side. If the picture were partially cleaned, enormous changes would be apparent. Although a few retouches would be required it would not be an enormous undertaking to make this work very presentable. Fully cleaning the work would remove older restorations and in that process we might see weakness developing in some of the colors in the beard, the darker colors in the background, and some of the figure's clothing. Leaving some of the oldest varnish and restorations is, I think, the best approach.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The expert representation of sitter's face, with its beautifully molded contours and well constructed features suggests it to be the work of Tintoretto himself.  Like numerous portraits by the artist, including that of Andrea Barbarigo in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, it is possible that the lower section, including the hands and chain of the scabbard, were completed by an assistant in his studio.¹  Frederick Ilchman notes an affinity between this red bearded sitter and that in the Portrait of a Man aged twenty-eight, in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart (inv. no. N2665).²  The Stuttgart canvas is dated 1548 while the present painting was likely executed a decade earlier, in the middle of Tintoretto's career.³

We are grateful to Frederick Ilchman for endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs.  

1.  Private written communication with Frederick Ilchman, dated 15 December 2014; for the Portrait of Andrea Barbarigo see P. Rossi, Jacopo Tintoretto, Venice 1974, pp. 120-121, reproduced fig. 142.
2.  M. Falomir, Tintoretto, exhibition catalogue, Madrid 2007, pp. 226-227, cat. no. 10, reproduced p. 227.
3.  Private written communication with Frederick Ilchman, dated 15 December 2014.