Portrait of a Man, c. 1490/1500

Provenance

Probably the dukes of Anhalt, Gotisches Haus, Wörlitz, near Dessau.[1] (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris).[2] Clarence H. Mackay [1874-1938], Roslyn, New York, by 1929;[3] by inheritance 1938 to his wife, Mrs. Anne Case Mackay, Roslyn, New York; consigned 1951 with (Paul Drey, New York), for sale by (French & Company, New York);[4] purchased March 1951 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1952 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1935

Fifteenth Century Portraits, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1935, no. 15, as by Carlo Crivelli.

2010

Van Eyck to Dürer, Groeningemuseum, Bruges, 2010-2011, no. 255, repro.

Technical Summary

The panel is probably composed of two boards with vertical grain,[1] but the possible join cannot be confirmed because a long, repaired check at the same place, 23.5 cm from the left, confuses the image seen in the x-radiograph. The panel has been thinned to a thickness of 0.5 cm and marouflaged to plywood. Calcium carbonate is the pigment in the thick white ground. Infrared reflectography discloses underdrawing consisting mainly of curvilinear strokes in a liquid medium that broadly outline forms. In the landscape, however, buildings that were not followed in the paint stage were underdrawn in a fine outline. Glazes were used in certain areas, such as the design in the sitter's robe. The panel has a slight concave warp but is in good condition. There are small, scattered inpainted losses throughout, for example, along the check and in the dark areas of the robe, and retouched abrasion in the right halves of the top and bottom edges of the collar.

[1] The wood was identified as linden by Michael Palmer, National Gallery's scientific research department.

Bibliography

1923

Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 18(1936):18, 20-22, fig. 12.

1929

Cortissoz, Royal. "The Clarence H. Mackay Collection." International Studio 94 (1929): 34, repro. 32

1930

Venturi, Lionello. "Contributi a Carlo Crivelli, a Vittore Carpaccio." L'Arte N.S. 1 (1930): 384, 393, repro. 385.

1931

Fiocco, Giuseppe. "Ein neuer Crivelli." Pantheon 7 (1931): 250.

1931

Venturi, Lionello. Pitture italiane in America. Milan, 1931: pl. 278.

1932

Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works with an Index of Places. Oxford, 1932: 161.

1932

Fiocco, Giuseppe. "Porträts aus der Emilia." Pantheon 10 (1932): 340, repro. 341.

1933

Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. 3 vols. New York and Milan, 1933: 2: pl. 372.

1936

Berenson, Bernard. I Pittori italiani del Rinascimento. Milan, 1936: pl. 6.

1959

Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 112, repro., as by North Italian Master.

1965

Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 97, as North Italian School.

1967

Anzelewsky, Fedja. "Ein Unbekanntes deutsches Fürstenporträt des 15. Jahrhunderts." Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 9 (1967): 156-164, repro.

1968

National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 85, repro., as North Italian School.

1968

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 38-39, fig. 91.

1969

Zeri, Federico. "Review of Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. Italian Schools XV-XVI Century by Fern Rusk Shapley." The Burlington Magazine 111 (1969): 455.

1970

Ringler, Josef. "Ein Tiroler Fürstenbildnis der Spätgotik in Washington." Der Schlern 44 (1970): 77-78, repro. facing 76.

1975

European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 254, repro., as North Italian School.

1975

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 116, no. 99, repro.

1979

Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:437-438; 2:pl. 317, as Swiss Master.

1983

Bonsanti, Giorgio. "Maria di Borgogna in un Ritratto di Michael Pacher." Paragone 34, no. 397 (1983): 18-19, pl. 9.

1984

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 116, no. 93, color repro., as by North Italian School.

1985

European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 293, repro., as North Italian 15th Century.

1993

Hand, John Oliver, with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1993: 181-186, color repro. 182.

1995

Löcher, Kurt. Review of German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, by John Oliver Hand with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. Kunstchronik 43 no. 1 (January 1995): 20.

2011

Borchert, Till-Holdger. "Portrait of a Man." In Van Eyck to Dürer: The Influence of Early Netherlandish Painting on European Art, 1430-1530. Edited by Till-Holger Borchert. Exh. cat. Bruges 2010. London, 2011: 459, no. 255, 531, color fig.

2017

Serres, Karen. "Duveen's Italian framemaker, Ferruccio Vannoni." The Burlington Magazine 159, no. 1370 (May 2017): 372-373 n. 38.

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