A young man is depicted full length in plate armour and chain mail. He does not wear a helmet but is armed with a sword and holds a lance or possibly the pole of a standard. Dramatic contrasts of light and dark create a mysterious, charged atmosphere. Reflections and glimmers of light and shade define the hard polished surface of the metal. The young man’s head, by contrast, has a soft, smoky quality. His eyes are lowered, and his contemplative mood seems at odds with his warlike costume.
This figure does not appear to be a portrait but seems to derive from the soldier saint at the left of the altarpiece of the Madonna and Saints by Giorgione in the Cathedral at Castelfranco (his home town). The painting, which is first certainly recorded in the early nineteenth century, was for a long time considered to be by Giorgione, but is now thought to be the work of a seventeenth-century imitator.
A young man is depicted full length in plate armour and chain mail. This type of armour would have been used when the wearer was mounted on a horse. He does not have a helmet but is armed with a sword and holds a lance or possibly the pole of a standard, suggesting that a tournament or battle is imminent. His right arm rests at his side, his hand clutched in a fist. He appears to be standing on a stone ledge and emerges in three-quarter view from the dark background, which is only defined by the sweep of a curtain on the right.
Dramatic contrasts of light and dark, known as chiaroscuro, create a mysterious, charged atmosphere. Reflections and glimmers of light and shade define the hard polished surface of the steel armour. Finely observed details such as the shadows and reflections cast by the leather straps on the metal give a sense of tactile realism. The young man’s head, by contrast, is painted with great softness using a technique known as sfumato, literally a ‘smoky’ effect. He appears lost in thought, in the same way that his physical presence seems to dissolve into the darkness. His eyes are lowered, and his introspective mood seems at odds with his warlike costume. He embodies a combination of the active and contemplative life, as advocated by ancient philosophy and Christian theology.
This figure does not appear to be a portrait but seems to derive from the soldier saint, Nicasius, at the left of the altarpiece of the Madonna and Saints of about 1500 by Giorgione in the Cathedral at Castelfranco (his home town). In the altarpiece, Nicasius holds a standard with a red pennant with a white cross. His pose and armour are similar, but he holds a glove in his right hand and wears a helmet, and these are not shown in the National Gallery’s picture.
The painting, which is first certainly recorded in the early nineteenth century, was for a long time considered to be by Giorgione, but is now thought to be the work of a seventeenth-century imitator.
