Boy in a Red Waistcoat

An Italian model in Paris

Between 1888 and 1890, Paul Cézanne painted a young Italian model named Michelangelo di Rosa four times, always wearing a red waistcoat. This standing version, with his hand on his hip, belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, from the collection of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon.

A thoughtful, distant face

The boy wears a wide hat and looks slightly down and to the side. His face is built from patches of pale pink, green and blue, with dark contour lines. The expression is quiet and withdrawn.

A block of red

The red waistcoat is the strongest colour in the picture. Cézanne painted it in broad, flat strokes of red and orange. Around it, the jacket, shirt and background are in cool blues and greens, so the red seems to come forward.

A long arm and a hand on the hip

The boy rests one hand on his hip. Cézanne made the arms unusually long; he cared more about the balance of shapes on the canvas than about exact proportions. The loose, unfinished-looking areas show how he built the picture in patches of colour.

Questions about Boy in a Red Waistcoat

Who is the boy?

An Italian model named Michelangelo di Rosa.

How many versions are there?

Cézanne painted him four times in the red waistcoat between 1888 and 1890.

Where is this version?

National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon.

Why are the arms so long?

Cézanne distorted proportions to balance the composition.

Sources and image credit

• National Gallery of Art: The Boy in the Red Waistcoat
• Wikimedia Commons: Le Garçon au gilet rouge

Public-domain reproduction of Boy in a Red Waistcoat (1888 to 1890), via Wikimedia Commons (National Gallery of Art Open Access). Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.