In 1627 it was in the collection of Vincenzo II Gonzaga, who sold it to Charles I of Great Britain, upon whose execution it was auctioned to Philip IV of Spain.

He is dressed in dark clothes, wears a ring on his left hand and in the front-on portrait holds a small object.

That object was barely visible before restoration and had previously been interpreted as a 'lotto' or pack of cards, punning on the painter's surname.

[3] Further study has linked the subject with the goldsmith Bartolomeo Carpan, a friend of Lotto's and mentioned in the painter's Libro di spese diverse from 1538 onwards.

No other documents support the theory, but if it is correct the "tre visi" or "three faces" of the portrait may be a pun on Carpan's hometown, Treviso.