The Tailor

Giovanni Battista Moroni painted this cloth merchant around 1570, capturing him mid-work with scissors ready to cut black fabric marked with chalk lines. He wears cream and red clothing of a successful professional, plus a sword belt denoting high status. He looks up at us, interrupted.

The portrait's snapshot quality gives it startling vitality. Moroni painted directly from life without preliminary drawings. He was among the first to portray the wealthy bourgeoisie rather than just nobility. The National Gallery considers this his most celebrated work. Acquired in 1862, it hangs at the National Gallery in London.