This painting probably depicts Pasquale Malipiero, the doge—or head of government—of Venice from 1457 until his death in 1462. While the blue background, the scarlet cape, and red hat (a symbol of supreme authority) are badly abraded, the doge’s face and white cloth cap are well preserved. Part of a famous family of painters, Gentile Bellini became official painter of the Venetian state in 1474 and portrayed a number of doges—though this portrait dates to an earlier moment. Scholars have recently questioned whether a young artist would have depicted such an important sitter and have instead proposed that this may actually be an exceedingly rare work by Gentile’s father, Jacopo Bellini.

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