Venice, c. 1508
poplar, 48 x 42 cm
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
This boy with his full head of wavy locks, hazel eyes, pouting lips, ivory skin and blushing cheeks epitomises the contemporary ideal of seductive beauty. The arrow seems a suitable attribute for this handsome boy. It may be a metaphor for the gaze returned by an ideal boy, a gaze that - meeting the viewer's - causes bitter-sweet injuries of love.
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