Portrait of a Prelate

This work was probably part of a larger composition, as evidenced by the presence along the left margin of three fingers, perhaps of a baby Jesus, and a strip of a blue mantle, presumably of the Virgin. The unknown elderly person in the portrait must have been very familiar to Domenico as he is seen intimately, albeit with discretion, in the pensive journey of maturity, and the few clues available do not help to advance hypotheses about his identity. The amount of gold leaf used in the bright golden halo around the head of the religious – a precious material rarely used with the advance of the 16th century – suggests the presence of an illustrious patron. On an old cartouche, probably from the 19th century, placed on the back of the canvas, was handwritten "Tintoret".