Vivaldi: Four Newly Discovered Portraits Change the Picture

A previously unknown portrait of Vivaldi has resurfaced in a private collection. By tracing its provenance, Federico Maria Sardelli, editor of the composer’s catalogue of works and author of “Il volto di Vivaldi” (2021), uncovered several versions of the same young violinist — and an unexpected lead: behind them may lie a lost original by the Italian painter Piazzetta. Presented in Florence this autumn, these discoveries reshape an iconography long thought to be well established. Three centuries on, the face of the “Red Priest” is still yielding surprises.