Portrait of a Procurator

A man in a black cap and a dark blue patterned jacket is painted as a bust turned diagonally to the right. A red sash crosses from his shoulder over his chest, which is said to show that he held public office. The background is a plain dark color.

Bellini was called the "painter of Madonnas" and painted many images of the Virgin and Child, but he also left a fair number of portraits. He is thought to have learned of the works of Hans Memling and others probably in the 1480s, and to have made his own the bust form set against sky or a plain background. Around 1501, "Doge Leonardo Loredan" (National Gallery, London) is a representative example.

This work dates from some years later, immediately after he completed the "San Zaccaria Altarpiece." Dürer wrote in a letter that Bellini, though very old, was the best painter in Venice. The work is said to convey the sureness of the brush that did not fade even after he passed 75.