Carlo Maratta was, for a number of years, the leading Roman exponent of High Baroque classicism; equally adept at portraiture, religious and history subjects, he set the standard for generations to follow. After arriving in The Eternal City from Le Marche in 1636, at the invitation of family friend Don Corintio Benicampi, who was himself working as secretary to Taddeo Barberini, a nephew of Pope Urban VIII, Maratta spent nineteen years in the studio of Andrea Sacchi, who, along with Pietro da Cortona, provided the foundations for his mature style. In fact, Maratta became Sacchi’s closest associate and supporter, remaining in the workshop until Sacchi’s death in 1661. Maratta courted prestigious patrons of his own, working for wealthy collectors across Europe and completing a number of significant commissions for Pope Alexander VI, for Santa Maria della Pace and the Quirinale Palace. His lengthy and successful career was well-documented by his friend and biographer Giovanni Pietro Bellori in Vita di Carlo Maratti pittore (1732), who counted among his sitters Grand Tourists, influential ecclesiastics and Roman professionals.

This portrait depicts an unknown young man seated at a table on which he rests his helmet and baton of command. He wears armour over a loose, blousy white shirt with a lace collar, embellished with a red tie at his shoulder. Facing to the viewer’s right, he turns his head over his left shoulder. It is a pose that obviously appealed to Maratta – the turning of the head and body in opposite directions – as he used it in many other portraits, varying the direction of the gaze