Portrait of a young Man in Red

Portrait of a Young Man in Red is a painting by Domenico Ghirlandaio. This Painting was made somewhere between 1480 to 1490. In this painting a young man's portrait is painted with his face turned slightly this is an art style called a three-quarter view in which both his torso and face are gently angled toward the viewer. This was different from the earlier way portraits were made, it was rather interesting as compared to any other portraits which was painted in strict profile. This is a style that actually came from ancient coins and medals. This three-quarter pose lets us see much more of the person's face and it was important during the Renaissance to capture not just what a person looked like but also a sense of their inner character. This turn of the body which along with the imaginary landscape behind him, shows the influence of Netherlandish or rather Flemish portrait painting, which is especially seen in the work of Hans Memling, which was very popular in Italy at that time. We can also observe that behind the young man is an invented landscape which was common for this period that usually requires showing a river or lake between a valley and mountains in the distance along with tiny fortifications painted far away to make the landscape feel bigger and deeper. In this painting, the distant mountains are painted in cool blue tones to give a sense of distance yet they stand out most ardently clearly against the green hills closer to us. The young man's skin looks smooth and youthful because of a technique common in Florentine painting of that time where paint was applied in very fine and thin lines. His gaze looks intensely at something outside the frame and even though he doesn't look directly at us, it gives the feeling that he is deep in thought. This painting is currently kept at the National Gallery in London.