Portrait of a Doge, probably Pasquale Malipiero

In October 1457 Venice's powerful Council of Ten forced the old doge Francesco Foscari out of office after 34 years, and he died days later. The man elected in his place was Pasquale Malipiero, backed by Foscari's enemies, and he ruled quietly until his death in 1462, remembered as the peaceful doge. This small panel probably shows him, in strict profile. Time has been hard on it. The blue background, the scarlet cloak and the red ducal hat, the sign of supreme authority, are badly worn, while the face and the white cloth cap beneath the hat are well preserved. The museum dates it to about 1460 to 1462, early in Gentile Bellini's career. That date has made some scholars doubt that so young a painter would have been trusted with such an important sitter, and they have proposed instead his father, Jacopo Bellini, whose surviving paintings are very rare. The museum keeps the name of Gentile and records the question.