Italian school of the 17th century

Portrait of Father Andrea Pozzo, painter, architect and member of the Society of Jesus. He is shown in profile, facing an easel, holding a painter's stick and a black stone (?). This depiction, probably from life, in Jesuit garb, is similar to the few known portraits of the figure and leaves no doubt as to his identity. The sheet comes from the collection of Mattias Polakowits, and bears his stamp in the lower right-hand corner (not listed in Lugt).
This important artist, painter and architect produced a large number of quadraturist decors for the Jesuits, including the vault of the church of Saint Ignatius in Rome.