This unfortunately badly rubbed but, nevertheless, poetically suggestive image typifies many of the innovations introduced by Giorgione into Venetian portraiture. Presumably – although not unambiguously a portrait of a particular individual, the picture does not provide any clear indication of the sitter's social or status, as does Catena's probably closely contemporary, but much more traditional Portrait of a Young Man. Instead, the painter sets out to evoke the figure's state of mind and inner personality by means of the transitory nature of the facial expression, of the placing of his hand to his breast, and of the oblique presentation of the sitter. Although the figures fashionably long hair is now so worn as to be virtually invisible, it must always have blended softly with the background, enhancing the effect of the figure emerging from the surrounding darkness.

The particular form of the glove, which affords protection for the hand and forefinger but mobility for the other fingers, appears to confirm the traditional assumption that the sitter is indeed an archer. By contrast, it would be unwise to deduce anything from the style of the hat, which has been entirely repainted, and which possibly once represented a metal helmet. It seems clear, nevertheless, that as so often with Giorgione and his immediate followers, the costume always had the appearance of fancy dress, as if the sitter were presenting himself in a romantic guise.

Equally Giorgionesque is the way in which the gleaming breastplate does not merely catch reflections of light, but serves as a mirror for the hand. This recalls the celebrated passage in Paolo Pino's Dialogue on Painting of 1548, in which the author describes a painting by Giorgione of an armoured St George in a landscape, in which the figure was reflected in mirrors to either side and in a foreground stream. Pino makes it clear that the picture was conceived as a contribution to the paragone debate, stemming from Leonardo da Vinci, on the relative merits of the arts of poetry, painting and sculpture. Although it has often been assumed that Pino's description was an invention, designed as a neat demonstration of the superiority of Giorgione's art to that of sculpture, it has recently been argued that the picture did indeed once exist, and that the 'mirrors' in the landscape were discarded pieces of the saint's shining armour.

It is tempting to agree with those authorities who have reaffirmed the traditional attribution of the Portrait of an Archer to Giorgione himself, especially given the high quality of the best-preserved parts of the hand and breastplate. It should also be said that none of the various attributions to other painters that have been put forward have won any critical support. On the other hand, the notorious problems attending any attribution to Giorgione are here further compounded by the picture's poor condition, and in the end it is best to be cautious.

If the St George described by Pino did indeed exist, the Portrait of an Archer may constitute rather a response to it, as well as to Giorgione’s innovative portraiture, by a close and highly talented follower. In that case it might date from c.1510-1515, shortly after Giorgione's early death, rather than from within the brief period of his artistic maturity (c.1500-10). An X-radiograph of the painting offers intriguing evidence that there was originally a landscape background behind the figure, at least at the left.

The picture has no certain history before it was bequeathed to the Gallery by Lady Ruthven in 1885. It may well, however, be identical with one recorded in the collection of Johannes and Jacob 'Van Voert' (Van Veerle) in Antwerp by Carlo Ridolfi in 1648, who described it as the portrait of 'a young man with a soft mane of hair, wearing armour in which his hand is reflected; a picture of exquisite beauty (by Giorgione)'. It may also be identical with a picture attributed to Giorgione listed in the inventory of the Portuguese collector Diego Duarte in Amsterdam in 1682, where it is described as 'A half life-size portrait of a man wearing a breastplate, on which his gloved hand is placed. ‘Finally, the picture may correspond to one sold at Christie's on 30 June 1827 (lot 53) as Giorgione. Himself as an Officer of the Archers. If so, it is likely to have been bought on that occasion by Lord and Lady Ruthven of Winton Castle, Pencaitland.

Published online 2016/17
This text was first published in The Age of Titian: Venetian Renaissance Art From Scottish Collections (2004)