Portrait of a man playing a virginal 1554 - 1570

Francesco Traballesi's "Portrait of a man playing a virginal" is a striking example of 16th-century Italian portraiture. Painted between 1554 and 1570, the work depicts a young man in a richly detailed costume playing a virginal, a type of keyboard instrument popular at the time. The artist's meticulous attention to detail is evident in the rendering of the man's clothing, the instrument, and the surrounding objects, such as the books and the quill pen. The work's realistic portrayal and the subject's engagement with the music-making process reflects the growing appreciation for both musical virtuosity and artistic realism in Renaissance Italy.