Boy with Arrow

This half-length portrait of an idealised young man with luxuriant curls and an arrow in his right hand is hard to interpret: while the arrow suggests Eros, it may also represent an idealised portrait of the „handsome“ St. Sebastian with his attribute. The soft sfumato and the delicate colours shining from out of the dark background heighten the poetic charm of his rapturous expression and turn the picture into an icon of youthful beauty.