Portrait of a Young Man. Artist: Antonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio) (Italian, Messina ca. 1430-1479 Messina). Dimensions: 10 5/8 x 8 1/8 in. (27 x 20.6 cm). Date: ca. 1470.
Trained in Naples in the Netherlandish technique of oil painting, Antonello set the standard for portraiture when he came from Sicily to Venice in 1475. Long before Leonardo da' Vinci, he introduced the incipient smile as an indication of the inner life of the sitter, enveloping his features in a soft light and engaging the viewer with his direct gaze. In these ways, the picture responds to the often-voiced negative view that painting was a mere depiction of the outward appearance of a person--not his character.