Italian school; mid-18th century.

Italian school; mid-18th century. "Portrait of a gentleman. Oil on canvas. Relined It presents repainting and faults. It needs to be cleaned. Measurements: 50 x 39 cm. In this work the author presents us a male portrait, in which the personage is placed in the foreground, with a long bust, and on a neutral and dark background that provokes a great exaltation of his presence due to his vividly illuminated face. In fact, the carefully studied, Tenebrist-influenced lighting is the main expressive resource used by the painter, a focused, directed, artificial light that enters the composition from the front and falls directly on the main area of the image, the figure's face, creating great clarity on his face and clothing, modelling his facial features and anatomical volumes with great naturalism, but certainly idealised, as the soft, rounded forms predominate. The gesture of the mouth, which remains half-open, as if the main character wanted to say something, is noteworthy. This feature brings the viewer into close contact with him, as the sitter seems to want to start a conversation. In short, it is a very intelligent device used by the artist to establish a close relationship between his work and the viewer. During the 18th century, as in the rest of Europe, portraiture became the genre that gained most prominence due to the excellence of Italian painting, as a consequence of the new social structures that were established in the Western world during this century, embodying the ultimate expression of the transformation in the taste and mentality of the new clientele that emerged among the nobility and the wealthy gentry, who took the reins of history during this period. While official circles gave precedence to other artistic genres, such as history painting, and the incipient collectors encouraged the profusion of genre paintings, portraiture was in great demand for paintings intended for the more private sphere, as a reflection of the value of the individual in the new society. This genre embodies the permanent presence of the image of its protagonists, to be enjoyed in the privacy of a studio, in the everyday warmth of a family cabinet or presiding over the main rooms of the house.