Sebastiano Bombelli
Udine 1635 – Venice 1719

Portrait of a Nobleman

Oil on canvas 124 x 101 cm

Federico Zeri Foundation, University of Bologna, photo library: file no. 58 239.
Bombelli was born in Udine on 15 October 1635, trained under the guidance of his father Valentino and moved to Venice as a young man, after a period of refinement in his art, carried out with Guercino in Bologna. He began by studying the manner of Paolo Veronese. The synthesis of the 16th century techniques of the impulse taken from the naturalists and the contemporary taste of the “tenebrosi” was directed by Bombelli to the area in which he specialised most, namely portraiture.
Among the particular characteristics of his works emerge vitality, expressiveness and communicability.
Sebastiano Bombelli was also an art expert, as well as a skilled engraver and restorer.
As in the painting in question, Bombelli used paint and lacquers to give brightness and shine to ancient works which oxidised over time, blackening the pictorial film.
The painting portrays a nobleman from Veneto or Friuli.