''Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami'' is an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

by Italian artist

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

. Painted ca. 1509, it exists in two copies, one of which is in display in the

Palatina Gallery The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

in Florence and the other in the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was founded ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Known for its realism and attention to detail, the image is reminiscent of works by

Hans Holbein the Elder Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter. Life Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsace (now France). He belonged to a celebrated family o ...

, by whom Raphael may have been influenced in its execution. Stylistically, it relates to Raphael's ''

Portrait of Agnolo Doni The ''Portrait of Agnolo Doni'' is an oil painting on wood by Italian Renaissance master Raphael, executed ''c.'' 1506. It is now in the Uffizi in Florence. Story The portrait is one of a pair that depict a recently married merchant and his wife ...

'', ca.1506, in what Claudio Strinati described in 1998 as its "merciless clarity." The subject of the painting,

Tommaso Inghirami Tommaso Inghirami (1470 – 5/6 September 1516) (also known as Phaedra, Phaedrus, or Fedra) was a Renaissance humanist and orator. He was prefect of the Vatican Library for several years and secretary of the Fifth Lateran Council. Biography Tomm ...

, was a friend of Raphael's, a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

nicknamed

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting Film * ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...

following a skillful exhibition of Latin poetry improvisation during a performance of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

's ''

'' wherein he carried the title role. A popular orator and actor, Tommaso Inghirami had

strabismus Strabismus is a vision disorder in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object. The eye that is focused on an object can alternate. The condition may be present occasionally or constantly. If present during a ...

. According to 2005's ''Cambridge Companion to Raphael'', the piece is "the first likeness into which Raphael introduced the concept of movement", in the twist of his body as he contemplates his composition. By means of this device, Raphael focused attention away from his subject's disfigurement.

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Tommaso Tommaso is an Italian given name. It has also been used as a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name A * Tommaso Acquaviva d'Aragona (1600–1672), Roman Catholic prelate * Tommaso Aldrovandini (1653–1736), Italian painter of ...

1509 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Galleria Palatina Paintings in the collection of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Books in art {{16C-painting-stub

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