Portrait of a Musician

Leonardo’s only surviving portrait of a man

Among the few portraits by Leonardo that survive, all the others show women. This young man, painted in Milan in the mid-1480s, is the exception. The painting belongs to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan.

It is painted on a small walnut panel, about 45 by 32 centimetres. Its attribution was debated for a long time, but most scholars now accept it as Leonardo’s, at least for the head, and date it to around 1483 to 1487.

A face built from light and shadow

The young man is shown in three-quarter view, looking to the right, past the viewer. His face is strongly lit from the left. Shadows model the eye sockets, nose and jaw, and the eyes are moist and bright.

His curly, golden-brown hair spills out from under a small red cap. The face is the most finished part of the painting and shows Leonardo’s careful study of how light falls on a head, the same study recorded in his notebooks.

Parts of the painting were never finished

Below the head, the handling changes. The ochre-coloured stole around his shoulders is laid in with broad, flat strokes, with little modelling. The dark tunic is simple. The difference between the detailed face and these areas suggests the painting was left unfinished.

That is not unusual for Leonardo. He left many works incomplete, often moving on once he had solved the problem that interested him. Here, the problem was clearly the head.

A sheet of music in his hand

In his right hand, at the bottom of the picture, he holds a folded sheet with musical notation. This detail was hidden under later overpaint and was revealed during a cleaning in 1905. It is the reason the portrait is called Portrait of a Musician.

Who he was remains uncertain. Franchino Gaffurio, the choirmaster of Milan Cathedral, has often been proposed, but there is no firm proof. The sheet shows that music mattered to the sitter, nothing more definite.

Painted in Milan in the 1480s

Leonardo moved from Florence to Milan around 1482 and offered his services to Ludovico Sforza. Music was part of his own skills; early sources say he played the lyre and impressed the court with it.

The portrait comes from these first Milanese years, before Lady with an Ermine and The Last Supper. It shows a painter already fully in control of light and shadow on the human face.

Who is the young man?

The sitter’s identity is unknown. Because he holds a sheet of music, he has been linked to musicians at the Milanese court, including Franchino Gaffurio, the choirmaster of Milan Cathedral, and Atalante Migliorotti, a musician friend of Leonardo. Neither identification is certain.

The music sheet was only discovered during a cleaning in 1904, which removed overpaint. Before then, the painting was sometimes thought to show a member of the Sforza family. The rediscovery of the music changed how the portrait was understood.

Leonardo and music

Leonardo was himself a skilled musician. Early biographers say he came to Milan partly as a performer, bringing a lyre he had made in the shape of a horse’s skull. He designed musical instruments in his notebooks and was admired for his singing and improvisation.

A portrait of a musician therefore fits his interests. The young man’s attentive expression could suggest someone listening or about to perform.

Seeing how Leonardo worked

Because parts of the painting are unfinished, it gives a rare chance to see Leonardo’s method. The face is fully modelled with layers of thin paint and soft shadows, while the clothes and hair are only roughly laid in. The contrast shows how he built a portrait, starting with the face and its expression.

The strong light from the left, falling on the forehead and cheekbones, gives the head a sculptural quality. The dark background makes the face stand out clearly.

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan was founded in the early seventeenth century by Cardinal Federico Borromeo. It also holds the Codex Atlanticus, the largest collection of Leonardo’s notebook pages. Seeing the portrait there, close to Leonardo’s writings and drawings, gives a strong sense of his Milanese years.

Where to see it

Portrait of a Musician hangs in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more remarkable faces in art, explore our famous portraits.

Questions about Portrait of a Musician

Who is the man?

He has not been identified with certainty. Franchino Gaffurio, choirmaster of Milan Cathedral, is one suggestion.

Why is it called Portrait of a Musician?

Because of the sheet of music in his hand, revealed during a cleaning in 1905.

Where is the original?

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan.

Is it finished?

The face is highly finished, but the clothing and hand are only partly worked, which suggests it was left incomplete.

When was the music sheet discovered?

During a cleaning in 1904 that removed later overpaint.

Was Leonardo a musician?

Yes. He played the lyre, sang, and designed musical instruments.

Sources and image credit

• Veneranda Biblioteca e Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
• Wikimedia Commons: Portrait of a Musician

Public-domain reproduction of Portrait of a Musician (about 1483 to 1487), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.