Carlo Caliari, called Carletto Veronese (Venice 1570-1596)

The son of Veronese was specialized in small portrait drawings of gripping realism. The present one stands out for his extensive use of colored chalks and finds a close comparison in the portrait of Paolo Paruta (National Gallery of Ireland, inv. 2715), which similarly was previously attributed to Leandro Bassano. The inscription 'lapis' written on the verso characterizes drawings coming from the Caliari family studio, as argued recently by Bert Meijer (Il disegno veneziano del Cinquecento (1580-1650), Venice, 2017, p. 98).