The portrait portrays Cardinal Gian Giacomo Millo, trustee of Pope Benedict XIV. The prelate is caught in the act of taking off his biretta with spontaneous immediacy: it could seem like a greeting to the observer or a homage to an eminent personality. The left hand holds a scroll with the painter's dedication. The soft brushstroke fades the white hair that frames the senile face, the slightly flaccid skin is rendered with evidence and technical skill. A thin veil draws the narrow collar around the mozzetta, plumbed on the bust and unexpectedly raised in an elegant wave, outlined by a contour line according to the painter's typical manner. The oval finish of the frame encloses a small and intimate universe made of simplicity, allowing a glimpse of two volumes on the left, a metaphor for the intellectual fervor of a century of great thinkers such as the cardinal. The courtly setting of an official portrait is tinged in Traversi with a domestic atmosphere: the generic formulas of abundant and elegant draperies, columns and refined objects give way to a greater intimacy. Solemn structure and preciousness of the figure, therefore, combine here splendidly with the spontaneity of the gesture and the declared confidence between the portrayed and the painter.