Worthy of appearing in a gallery of ideal portraits of the Italian 19th century, this male portrait is certainly part of a very specific research by Molteni, capable of reinterpreting the Lombard 17th century of Flemish origin. The fact that it is signed and dated demonstrates that it was commissioned by an important and international clientele, as is demonstrated not only by the label on the back but also by the register drawn up by Sergio Rebora on the occasion of the great anthological exhibition at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan between 2000 and 2001, which indicates a whole series of portraits for Anglo-Saxon clients, evidently fascinated by the manners of an undisputed protagonist of the European portrait of the time. In evidence we find two portraits listed for the noble Gerningham precisely in that 1837 and, always referring to that period of time, various portraits of an old philosopher, an old drinker, an old man with a stick and an old spinner. The suspicion that Molteni knew of Gericault's conquests beyond the Alps is strong, so much is the psychological sting felt in this man with such an intense gaze.