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Notes
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This portrait has long been known as ‘L’Avvocato‘, meaning the lawyer or counsel in Italian. The sitter’s air of well-paid theatricality and his supercilious regard, as though he is summing up evidence, may have suggested this title. It might also derive from a misreading of the folded letter in his hand which is addressed ’Al Magº Sig Julii‘ (’to the most worshipful Lord Giulio or Giuliano'). The portrait is one of Moroni’s most expressive works. It relies on the hands as well as the head for its effect, and also on the way in which the composition is structured – along a diagonal that runs from the upper right to lower left corner of the picture. The use of a diagonal and the extremely subtle gradation of the grey background is characteristic of the artist’s later work.
Title
Portrait of a Man holding a Letter ('L'Avvocato')
Date
about 1570
Medium
Oil on canvas
Measurements
H 89 x W 72.5 cm
Accession number
NG742
Acquisition method
Bought, 1865
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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