Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein

This portrait of an unidentified boy, executed in a highly decorative neoclassical manner, is characteristic of Tischbein's approach to portraiture. The solid modelling, curly hair, and heavy drapery, fringed with a gold threaded guilloché pattern, all point towards the classical influences of the late eighteenth century. In contrast to these visual cues, the facial expression of the boy is one of a tender playfulness that betrays the romantic softness and nostalgia also present in this period of art.

When sold in 2021 the attribution of the painting was endorsed by Steffi Roettgen, who suggested that Tischbein could have been painted this portrait in either Zurich or Milan, cities that the artist visited in 1782.