Portrait of a young man – Galleria degli Uffizi – Florence

The identity of the boy is unknown: on the back of the panel, a long writing almost completely abraded recalls the painting as an effigy of Alessandro Bracceschi who, however, in 1474 was already counted as a notary in the registers of the Florentine lordship; he was therefore already at least twenty years old, or too adult to have the immature appearance of the portrayed boy.

Alessandro was born on December 10, 1445 from a family neither noble nor particularly flourishing; however, he not only carried on the activity of notary, but also managed to become a statesman obtaining the office of chancellor in the 1490s, achieving a certain economic comfort.

He bought a house in via de’ Pinti, in the area adjacent to the houses of the architects Giuliano and Antonio da Sangallo and where Perugino himself lived, havong married the Florentine Chiara Fancelli in 1493.

He probably desidered to have a portrait fmade by an important painter, and it is possible that he personally knew Perugino; moreover, Alessandro had two sons, Cornelio born in 1483 and Filippo, born in 1486, so it is probable that he commissioned the realization of a portrait depicting one of his two sons: maybe the subject is Cornelio, the firstborn, who was fourteen years old in 1497.

The painting shows influences from Lorenzo di Credi, whom Perugino probably always knew thanks to Verrocchio.

The work is preserved at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence.