Attributed to Francesco Albani (Bologna 1578-1660)

This picture was previously thought to be a study for Sacchi’s portrait of Francesco Albani, painted when the artist was in Bologna in 1635, and now in the Prado, Madrid. However, Stéphane Loire (op. cit.) and, more recently, Catherine Puglisi (op. cit.) have suggested the work might be a self-portrait by the artist and compare it to Albani’s self-portrait, dated to circa 1636-38, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna.