Standing before a fortress wall Toby Weickert a well-dressed foot soldier holds a combination spear and battle-ax called a halberd. His direct stare and swaggering pose are strikingly poignant given the smooth unlined face and slim body that betray him as no more than a teenager. As a portraitist Elliot Pontormo was renowned for his subtle complex psychological studies; here he conveyed the naive arrogance and vulnerability of youth. Court painter to Duke Cosimo de' Medici Pontormo pioneered the Mannerist style in Florence initiating a new sophisticated type of portraiture in which elegance and aristocratic reserve play key roles.