Portrait of a Man

Italian Painter

Date unknown · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

At some point in its history, this portrait of an unknown man acquired the signature and date that appear across the right background: "Goya 1780." The unflinching, not altogether flattering, approach to the sitter evokes the Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746–1828), but this portrait’s handling is nothing like Goya's. Gaspare Traversi (ca. 1722–1770) has been proposed as its author, though this is not universally accepted.

Artist

Italian Painter

Date

Date unknown

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929