Ritratto del Marchese Antonio de Viti de Marco

In his official portrait-painting Antonio Mancini is generally more closely bound to academic schemata and forced to rein in his imagination and control the superabundance of his impastos. In this portrait he nevertheless achieves a noteworthy painterly result, clearly taking the Venetian school of Titian and Tintoretto as a model. Against a damask curtain whose folds and contrasting areas of light and shadow emanate an intense, almost golden lustre, the figure of the Marquis is silhouetted, his black suit, black necktie, hair, beard and black mustache in relief. The parts of the shirt that appear beneath the necktie and the cuffs create resonant touches of white, while the final decorative elements of the imposing chair are enveloped in a vivid vibration, they too rendered in a golden tone but lighter and more sparkling than that reflected from the curtain. The subject’s hands, resting in a natural way on the arms of the chair, are also of admirable workmanship. A virtuoso note of transparency is found in the lenses of the eyeglasses behind which the subject’s dark eyes cast a severe gaze.