Portrait of a Young Man holding a Letter

In 1518 Andrea del Sarto, in whose Florentine workshop Rosso was then working, was away in France, and his absence left openings for other painters in the city. This portrait belongs to that year. The date is written on the letter in the young man's hands, 22 June 1518. The seal carries the lily of Florence, and the writing near his fingers, which would have faced outward once the letter was folded, probably gives his name. Nobody has yet managed to read it. Up close, the face is a net of quick hatched strokes that only settles into a likeness from a distance. There seems to be no underdrawing at all, which suggests Rosso painted him quickly, from life. Of about five portraits generally accepted as his, it is the only one that can be dated exactly.