Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione

Raphael painted this portrait of his friend Baldassare Castiglione, the diplomat and author of The Book of the Courtier, around 1514. Castiglione is shown in dark fur and sober grey, his hands folded and his eyes fixed quietly on the viewer. The restrained palette, the subtle modeling of the face, and the sense of dignified introspection made the painting one of the most admired portraits of the Renaissance, and it was copied and praised by artists from Rubens to Rembrandt.