Portrait of Collector

Before a red curtain glossy in the light, a man in a black garment with a fur collar sits in a chair and gazes out at the viewer. He grips a white cloth in one hand and rests the other on the armrest of the chair.

By the window stands a gilded mechanical clock, and next to the man is a sculpture of David with his foot on the head of Goliath, signs of refined taste. Beyond the window can be seen Castel Sant'Angelo, built as the mausoleum of a Roman emperor in antiquity and used at the time as a fortress for the popes.

The museum's commentary reads the castle as showing the sitter's connection to the Vatican and speculates that the man was probably a Venetian diplomat staying in Rome. Tintoretto was strongly drawn to Michelangelo's treatment of the human body, and he is a painter known for artificial lighting and dramatic movement.