Portrait of a Young Boy

Daniele Ranzoni is known as one of the Italian "scapigliato" artists, a term which makes reference to the free-flowing brushwork and thickly- applied impasto which Ranzoni utilized in order to intensify the effect of the present portrait, endowing it with an almost three dimensional quality. Annie-Paule Quinsac proposes a date for the work of around 1875, a period when Ranzoni was particularly prolific. She cites similarities with and compares the present painting to Portrait of the child Pierino Erba, (cited in A.P. Quinsac, Daniele Ranzoni: Catalogo ragionato dei dipinti e disegni, Milan, 1997, p. 136, no. 178).

Ranzoni made a name for himself primarily as a society portraitist. He moved within closed high-society circles and was the art teacher to the children of the Troubetzkoy family who resided in the Lake District north of Milan. From 1872-75 he lived between Milan and Lago Maggiore. It is thought that the present work was done on commission for one of the guests of Ada Vinans Troubetzkoy at their Italian lake villa.

This work has been authenticated by Professor Annie-Paul Quinsac.