The attribution and sitter of the Munich Portrait of a Young Man in a Fur Coat

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the mid seventeenth century, Carlo Ridolfi attributed to Giorgione a Portrait of a Young Man in a Fur Coat, now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. However, Ridolfi was confused about much of Giorgione's oeuvre, and his ascription is now generally discarded. Currently, most scholars believe that the portrait was executed by Palma Vecchio, but style and chronology suggest otherwise, and in this paper Mauro Lucco's attribution of the painting to Sebastiano Luciani, known later in his career as Sebastiano del Piombo, is endorsed. Ridolfi also stated that the young man in the Munich portrait was a member of the Fugger family of Augsburg, and the reasons for accepting this are sound. Here, the sitter is recognised as Anton Fugger (1493–1560), an identification that is supported by biographical details, and through comparison with other known likenesses.