Portrait of a Boy

Lambert Krahe’s identification of the work as a selfportrait by Raphael was accepted until the art historian B. Berenson was able to name Lorenzo di Credi as the artist in the early 20th century. Lorenzo di Credi was trained in the workshop of the sculptor Verrocchio together with Leonardo da Vinci. Credi’s repertoire includes depictions of the Madonna as well as the Adoration of the Christ Child. The Florentine artist has become known thanks to the portrait studies that he realized in silverpoint and which are held in large collections all over the world. They required a steady hand, for it is virtually impossible to correct lines on the specially prepared paper. The difficult technique, involving the use of a silver-tipped instrument, increasingly fell into oblivion from the early 16th century. The era of black and later red chalk, which could be used on all types of paper, dawned. (Sonja Brink)