This portrait is first firmly recorded in an inventory of pictures at Kensington Palace during the reign of George III where it is listed as a Portrait of an Artist by Bassano and noted as being ‘very fine’. Since then the attribution to Bassano has been widely discussed. Numerous elements of the composition, such as the loose treatment of the artist’s left hand, would suggest that the painting was produced in Veneto by an artist working in the style of Tintoretto or Jacopo (c.1510–92) and Leandro Bassano (1577–1622).

However, the figure of a woman, painted underneath the current portrait and only revealed recently in an X-radiograph, may possibly point to a Bolognese artist, based on the woman’s appearance and dress. Whether this paintng is a self-portrait has also been debated. An X-ray has revealed pentimenti in the area around the artist's painting hand, its original position apparently higher and more angled than it appears currently. This repositioning of the painting hand might suggest that this is an original self-portrait because the artist required more than one attempt as he struggled to get it right.

Recent conservation has also exposed considerable areas of later overpaint. Removal of this in the area around the artist’s palette has revealed an original table (previously concealed beneath a red cloth) as well as the true positioning of the handles of the artist’s two paintbrushes and a small crucifix placed next to his tools. The crucifix, when observed in conjunction with the strong directional light on the artist’s forehead – a symbol of divine inspiration – would suggest that he may have intended that this portrait be read not only as a testament to his ambitions but also as a declaration of his service to God.

Text adapted from Portrait of the Artist, London, 2016