The Barberigo gentleman and the Caterina Cornaro are comparatively unfamiliar, owing to their seclusion in private galleries. Not so the third portrait, which hangs in the National Gallery, and which, in my opinion, should be included among Giorgione's authentic productions. This is No. 636, "Portrait of a Poet," attributed to Palma Vecchio; and the catalogue continues: "This portrait of an unknown personage was formerly ascribed to Titian, and supposed to represent Ariosto; it has long since been recognised as a fine work by Palma." I certainly do not know by whom this portrait was first recognised as such, but as the transformation was suddenly effected one day under the late Sir Frederic Burton's _regime_, it is natural to suppose he initiated it. No one to-day would be found, I suppose, to support the older view, and the rechristening certainly received the approval of Morelli;[107] modern critics apparently acquiesce without demur, so that it requires no little courage to dissent from so unanimous an opinion. I confess, therefore, it was no small satisfaction to me to find the question had been raised by an independent inquirer, Mr. Dickes, who published in the _Magazine of Art_, 1893, the results of his investigations, the conclusion at which he arrived being that this is the portrait of Prospero Colonna, Liberator of Italy, painted by Giorgione in the year 1500. Briefly stated, the argument is as follows:-- I. (1) The person represented closely resembles Prospero Colonna (1464-1523), whose authentic likeness is to be seen-- (_a_) In an engraving in Pompilio Totti's "Ritratti et Elogie di Capitani illustri. Rome, 1635." (_b_) In a bust in the Colonna Gallery, Rome. (_c_) In an engraving in the "Columnensium Procerum" of the Abbas Domenicus de Santis. Rome, 1675. (All three are reproduced in the article in question.) [Illustration: _Hanfstängl photo. National Gallery, London_. PORTRAIT OF A MAN] (2) The description of Prospero Colonna, given by Pompilio Totti (in the above book) tallies with our portrait. (3) The accessories in the picture confirm the identity--e.g. the St Andrew's Cross, or saltire, is on the Colonna family banner; the bay, emblem of victory, is naturally associated with a great captain; the rosary may refer to the fact of Prospero's residence as lay brother in the monastery of the Olivetani, near Fondi, which was rebuilt by him in 1500. II. Admitting the identity of person, chronology determines the probable date of the execution of this portrait, for Prospero visited Venice presumably in the train of Consalvo Ferrante in 1500. He was then thirty-six years of age.