Portrait of a Young Artist  1500

The youthful sitter in this portrait pauses to sharpen his quill pen in the midst of drawing a nude figure. On the shelf behind him are pots of paint, a shell probably used to mix pigment and binder, and a bottle of oil. It has often been assumed that this is a self-portrait, given the artist’s three-quarter pose and individualized physiognomy, down to the mole on his chee...