Probably by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Portrait of Girolamo Benivieni

The sitter is almost certainly Girolamo Benivieni (1453–1542), a significant figure in Florentine literary and political circles. Benivieni and his adored friend, the humanist poet and philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, were among the group of intellectuals surrounding Lorenzo de' Medici, the cultured de facto ruler of Florence. However, they were quick to fall under the influence of the Dominican preacher and reformer Girolamo Savonarola, who persuaded the Florentines to expel the Medici and form a populist republic.

Benivieni denounced his own early love poetry and instead wrote songs to accompany the bonfires of frivolous and erotic books, paintings and other objects organised by Savonarola’s youthful followers. He also translated Savonarola’s teachings from Italian into Latin. In 1519 Benivieni signed a petition to Pope Leo X requesting the return of the body of the Italian poet Dante (1265–1361) from its resting place in Ravenna to his native Florence. He later retired from public life but his advice was sought by both Medicean and republican factions in the 1520s and 1530s.

Benivieni turns towards us with a steady, piercing gaze, his face not quite in full view. There is a strong sense that this is how he really appeared. Ghirlandaio has made a detailed and sensitive study of the deep wrinkles and criss-cross lines of the old man’s face. A few streaks of reddish brown remain in the wires of his white hair and white patches salt his dark grey eyebrows. The deep-set eyes in their dark sockets are rimmed with red and puffed with lines and bags as though from decades of study. A fine down of white hair lies above Benivieni’s upper lip and streaks his jaw and chin. The cheek bones are very prominent, and the hollows emphasise the irregularity of his time-worn face. The colour palette is restrained – striking in its apparent simplicity but sophisticated in its relationship of contrasts and harmonies. The warm brownish tones of the face harmonise with those of the parapet, while the severe black costume and hat serve to focus our attention on the face set against the crystalline sky. The uninhabited, dream-like landscape lifts the sitter from the mundane concerns of daily life into the realm of thought and poetry occupied by his mind.

The pose and the hazy blue mountainous background suggest that Ghirlandaio had seen Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (Louvre, Paris). However, the crisp, carefully delineated face is more akin to the style of his father, Domenico Ghirlandaio, than to Leonardo’s subtle, smoky rendition of Mona Lisa’s features.