Portrait of a Young Flautist

Portrait of a Young Flautist or The Flute Player is an oil on canvas painting by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, created c. 1540, now in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia.

[1] The work was first recorded in the 19th century, at which time it was in Lord Anherest's collection in Sevenoaks.

It was acquired by Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, after being excluded from the bequest to the Uffizi, and sold by his heirs to Peter Sharp, a New York collector.

The boy is conspicuously dressed, denouncing his high social background, but a sense of melancholy is also evident, derived from a personal interpretation of Giorgione.

The shod hat casts a shadow over the boy's eyes, which appear so veiled and seem to reveal a restrained unhappiness.