A young halberdier in a pale doublet stands against a dark green wall.

Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles · CC0

J. Paul Getty Museum

Painting

Portrait of a Halberdier

Pontormo (Jacopo Carucci) · 1529–1530

J. Paul Getty Museum
Getty Center, Los Angeles

Why it stays

A portrait that balances confidence, vulnerability, costume, and uncertainty.

Medium: Oil or oil and tempera on panel, transferred to canvas
Collection: J. Paul Getty Museum

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Connections

See where this work leads.

Two forms of power expressed through posture, surface, and gaze.

A marble portrait bust of Pope Paul V wearing richly folded vestments.

Sculpture

Bust of Pope Paul V

Gian Lorenzo Bernini · 1621

J. Paul Getty Museum