Gervasio Gatti
Cremona, 1549-1631
Man in Armor, 1590s
Oil on canvas.
With the sitter shown three-quarter length, slightly turned, and resplendent in official costume, this portrait is an excellent example of the �international style� that became standard across Europe in the second half of the sixteenth century. A recent cleaning has not only confirmed its high quality but allowed its proper attribution. Typical of the school of Cremona, Gatti�s style combined the attentive observation of Lombard painting with the elegant stylization of the Emilian school. Contemporaries describe Gatti as a prolific portraitist, but very few examples have been identified.