Portrait of a man – Rome

The portrait depicts a young man without a beard, with long hair and a black cap.

Based on the juxtaposition of the physiognomic features between this painting and the portrait of Serafino Aquilano executed by Pintoricchio in the Borgia Apartment in the Vatican, it is thought that the character represented by Perugino is Serafino Ciminelli from L’Aquila, author and singer of strambotti (short compositions of popular and satirical intonation), actor and player of string instruments; the musician, who cheered the Roman environment from 1484, was then called at the courts of Naples, Urbino and Mantua; he then died in Rome at only 34 years in 1500.
The work is recorded in the collection of the Aldobrandini from 1603 onwards, to finally reach the Borghese collection.

The work is preserved at the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

Raphael, Portrait of a man, (Serafino Aquilano?), before 1491, tempera and oil on panel, 45 x 31 cm, Roma, Galleria Borghese.