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Shown from the chest up, a light-skinned man wearing a burgundy-red turban faces our left in profile against a dark background in this vertical portrait painting. He looks off to the left, and the eye we can see is light brown under a faint, possibly plucked eyebrow. He has a straight nose, and his full peach-colored lips are closed. There is the suggestion of a puffy area under the eye we can see, but the rest of his skin is smooth. His brown hair is mostly tucked under his turban, and a piece of fabric hangs down the back of his neck. A band of his white undergarment is visible at the high neck of his olive-brown shirt, which appears to be pleated or striped down the front. He also wears a black jacket, which covers his shoulder and most of his chest. A brown band across the bottom edge of the painting could be a wooden railing or ledge, behind which the man is shown. Cracks are visible across the painting, especially in the deep green background.

Florentine 15th Century

Profile Portrait of a Young Man, 1430/1450

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 4

Medium

tempera on panel

Dimensions

overall: 42.4 x 32.5 cm (16 11/16 x 12 13/16 in.)

framed: 69.2 x 61.6 x 6.4 cm (27 1/4 x 24 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Accession Number

1937.1.14

Artists / Makers

Florentine 15th Century (painter)

Image Use

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Provenance

Alexis-François Artaud de Montor [1772-1849], Paris, acquired probably during his stay in Florence between 1805 and 1808;[1] (his sale, Hôtel des vents mobilières, Paris, 16-17 January 1851, no. 115, as by Masaccio). (John Hahn, Paris).[2] (Jules Féral, Paris); purchased June 1936 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York);[3] purchased 15 December 1936 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[4] gift 1937 to NGA.

[1] After a stay in Rome, where he worked at the French embassy and was in contact with the collector François Cacault, Artaud de Montor served as a secretary in the French embassy in Florence between 1805 and 1808. His collection was probably formed largely during that time; in 1808 it already numbered 110 pieces and two years later 150 works (see J. Perot, "Canova et les diplomates français à Rome: François Cacault et Alexis Artaud de Montor," Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art français [1980]: 221-222). A certain number of his paintings came, as he himself stated (Alexis-François Artaud de Montor, Peintres primitifs. Collection de tableaux rapportée d'Italie, Paris, 1843: 14 n. 1), from the collection of an Englishman who used to live in Florence and had created his collection about sixty years earlier. According to the hypothesis of Tancred Borenius ("The Rediscovery of Primitives," The Quarterly Review 239 [April 1923]: 258-271), the unnamed person could be the Florentine painter of English origin Ignazio Hugford (Pisa 1703-Florence 1778), whose vast collection also included paintings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; on him, see F. Borroni Salvadori, "Ignazio Enrico Hugford, collezionista con vocazione del mercante," Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa 13 (1983): 1025-1056.

[2] According to a statement by Agnes Hahn Brodie, daughter of John Hahn (recorded 1974 in NGA curatorial files), the painting was "discovered" by her father, "a small dealer," in Paris.

[3] According to the correspondence between Edward Fowles of the Paris office of Duveen Brothers, Inc. and Bernard Berenson (copies in NGA curatorial files), on the basis of a photograph, Berenson recognized the painting as a work by Masaccio and suggested its acquisition on 4 June 1936. A letter to Berenson of 30 June announces that the painting was acquired from Féral.

[4] The original Duveen Brothers invoice is in Gallery Archives, copy in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Artaud de Montor, Alexis-François, Chevalier
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Féral, Jules
Hahn, John
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, The A.W.
Sale, Paris

Exhibition History

2011: The Portrait in Renaissance Italy: From Masaccio to Bellini, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011-2012, no. 3, repro. (shown only in New York), as Florentine Artist (Paolo Uccello?).

Bibliography

1808: Artaud de Montor, Alexis-François. Considérations sur l’état de la peinture en Italie, dans les quatre siècles qui ont précédé celui de Raphaël: par un membre de l’académie de Cortone. Ouvrage servant de catalogue raisonné à une collection de tableaux des XIIe, XIIIe, XIVe et XVe siècles. Paris, 1808: no. 115, as by Masaccio.

1843: Artaud de Montor, Alexis-François. Peintres primitifs: collection de tableaux rapportée d’Italie. Paris, 1843: 45, no. 115, pl. 49, as by Masaccio.

1895: Schmarsow, August. Masacchio-Studien. 4 vols. Kassel, 1895-1899: 5(1899): pl. VIIIa, as by Masolino or Paolo Uccello.

1898: Schmarsow, August. “Maîtres italiens à la Galerie d’Altenburg et dans la Collection Artaud de Montor.” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 20 (1898): 505, as possibly by Masolino or Paolo Uccello.

1929: Giglioli, Odoardo H. “Masaccio: Saggio di bibliografia ragionata.” Bollettino del Reale Istituto di Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte 3 (1929): 74.

1932: Salmi, Mario. Masaccio. Rome, 1932: 106, as by Paolo Uccello.

1934: Pudelko, Georg. “The Early Works of Paolo Uccello.” The Art Bulletin 16, no. 3 (1934): 249 n. 26, as by Paolo Uccello.

1935: Pittaluga, Mary. Masaccio. Florence, 1935: 164 n. 1.

1936: Lipman, Jean. “The Florentine Profile Portrait in the Quattrocento.” The Art Bulletin 18, no. 1 (1936): 101, as by a Follower of Paolo Uccello.

1936: Salmi, Mario. Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno, Domenico Veneziano. Rome, 1936: 123, as by Paolo Uccello.

1937: Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 16.

1938: Salmi, Mario. Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno, Domenico Veneziano. 2nd ed. Milan, 1938: 173, as by Paolo Uccello.

1939: Boeck, Wilhelm. Paolo Uccello. Berlin, 1939: 120, as by Paolo Uccello.

1941: Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 32, repro., as by Masaccio.

1941: Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 125, no. 14, as by Masaccio.

1942: Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 149, as by Masaccio.

1944: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 20, color repro., as by Masaccio.

1945: “Italian Paintings in the Andrew W. Mellon Collection.” Connoisseur 115, no. 496 (June 1945): 113-114, repro.

1948: Salmi, Mario. Masaccio. 2nd ed. Rome, 1948: 22-23, 174-175, as by Masaccio.

1948: Steinbart, Kurt. Masaccio. Vienna, 1948: 28.

1949: Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 11, repro., as by Masaccio.

1950: Pope-Hennessy, John. The Complete Work of Paolo Uccello. London, 1950: 147-148, fig. VII.

1951: Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 34-35.

1952: Procacci, Ugo. Tutta la pittura di Masaccio. 2nd ed. Milan, 1952: 38.

1954: Baldini, Umberto. “Notizia di Masaccio.” In Mostra di quattro maestri del primo Rinascimento. Exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1954: 5.

1956: Laclotte, Michel. De Giotto à Bellini: les primitifs italiens dans les musées de France. Exh. cat. Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1956: 91.

1956: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 16, repro., as by Masaccio.

1957: Meiss, Millard. Andrea Mantegna as Illuminator. New York, 1957: 27, as “related to Masaccio.”

1963: Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School. 2 vols. London, 1963: 1:134, as by Masaccio (?).

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 70, repro., as by Masaccio.

1964: Berti, Luciano. Masaccio. Milan, 1964: 81, 144 n. 221, 158, fig. 53.

1965: Hatfield, Rab. “Five Early Renaissance Portraits.” The Art Bulletin 47, no. 3 (1965): 330, as by Domenico di Bartolo.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 84, as by Masaccio.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:20, color repro., as by Masaccio.

1966: Parronchi, Alessandro. Masaccio. Florence, 1966: 21, 37, pl. 19, as by Masaccio.

1966: Pope-Hennessy, John. The Portrait in the Renaissance. London and New York, 1966: 35-36, 307 n. 54.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 74, repro., as by Masaccio.

1968: Volponi, Pietro, and Luciano Berti. L’opera completa di Masaccio. Milan, 1968: 88-89, fig. 4.

1969: Pope-Hennessy, John. Paolo Uccello: Complete Edition. London and New York, 1969: 149.

1971: Tongiorgi Tomasi, Lucia, and Ennio Flaiano. L’opera completa di Paolo Uccello. Milan, 1971: 87.

1972: Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 123, 645, as by Masaccio.

1972: Vayer, Lajos. “Porträtproblemen in Masaccios Kunst.” Jahrbuchs des Kunsthistorischen Institutes der Universität Graz 7 (1972): 35-36.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 216, repro., as by Masaccio.

1978: Sleptzoff, L. M. Men or Supermen? The Italian Portrait in the Fifteenth Century. Jerusalem, 1978: 46-47.

1979: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:181-182; 2:pl. 126.

1979: Sindona, Ennio. “Il volto umano nella prima del Quattrocento-5.” L’Arte (January-June 1979): 5-8.

1979: Takács, Jozsef. Masaccio. Berlin, 1979: 6-7, pl. 6, as by Masaccio.

1980: Cole, Bruce. Masaccio and the Art of Early Renaissance Florence. Bloomington, IN, 1980: 214.

1980: Wohl, Hellmut. The Paintings of Domenico Veneziano. Oxford, 1980: 138-139, 140.

1983: Castelfranchi Vegas, Liana. Italia e Fiandra nella pittura del Quattrocento. Milan, 1983: 193.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 74, no. 18, color repro., as by Masaccio.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 153, repro.

1986: Frulli, Cristina. “Masaccio/Tommaso di Giovanni Cassai.” In Federico Zeri, ed. La pittura in Italia. Il Quattrocento. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 2:704, as by Masaccio.

1988: Berti, Luciano, et al. Masaccio. Florence, 1988: 33, 126, 127, 128, repro.

1989: Berti, Luciano, and Rossella Foggi. Masaccio. Catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1989: 17, 48, 41, repro.

1990: Baldini, Umberto. Masaccio. Florence, 1990: 74.

1990: Casazza, Ornella. L’opera completa di Masaccio e la Cappella Brancacci. Florence, 1990: 8.

1990: Damian, Véronique. Peintures Florentines. Collections du Musée de Chambéry. Chambéry, 1990: 103.

1991: Harrison, Jefferson C. The Chrysler Museum. Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Scupture and Drawings. Norfolk, VA, 1991: 3.

1993: Joannides, Paul. Masaccio and Masolino. A Complete Catalogue. London, 1993: 458, 460-461, pl. 473.

1996: Wohl, Helmut. "Masaccio." In Jane Turner, ed. The Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 20:530.

1997: Boskovits, Miklós. “Studi sul ritratto fiorentino quattrocentesco. Parte I” Arte Cristiana 85, no. 781 (July-August 1997): 257-260, fig. 7, as by Masaccio.

1998: Fremantle, Richard. Masaccio. Catalogo completo. Florence, 1998: 102, 122, cat. A9.

2002: Boskovits, Miklós. "Appunti sugli inizi di Masaccio e sulla pittura fiorentina del suo tempo." In Luciano Bellosi, Aldo Galli, and Laura Cavazzini, eds. Masaccio e le origini del Rinascimento. Exh. cat. Casa Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno, 2002: 52, 63, 73 n. 33, fig. 7, as by Masaccio.

2003: Boskovits, Miklós, David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2003: 453-457, color repro., as by Masaccio.

2008: Hudson, Hugh. Paolo Uccello: Artist of the Florentine Republic. Saarbrücken, 2008: 338-339, cat. 70.

2012: Natali, Antonio, Enrica Neri Lusanna, and Angelo Tartuferi, eds. Bagliori dorati: Il Gotico Internazionale a Firenze 1375-1440. Exh. cat. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 2012: 232, as by Masaccio.

2014: Chiodo, Sonia, and Serena Padovani, eds. The Alana Collection, Newark, Delaware, USA. Vol. III: Italian Paintings from the 14th to 16th Century. Florence, 2014: 258, fig. 35a, as by Masaccio.

2014: Staderini, Andrea. "Alexis-François Artaud de Montor (Parigi, 1772-1849)." In Angelo Tartuferi and Gianluca Tormen, eds. La fortuna dei primitivi: tesori d'arte dalle collezioni Italiane fra Sette e Ottocento. Exh. cat. Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, 2014: 426, fig. 5.

2016: Cecchi, Alessandro. Masaccio. Milan, 2016: 313, fig. 4, as Circle of Gentile da Fabriano and Paolo Uccello.

2016: Madersbach, Lukas. "'fatto alla spera'? Das Porträt des Leon Battista Alberti aus den Orti Oricellari." Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 58, no. 3 (2016): 336-337, fig. 15.

2017: Strehlke, Carl Brandon. "Fra Filippo e Masaccio." In Enrico Parlato, ed. Altro Rinascimento. Il giovane Filippo Lippi e la Madonna di Tarquinia. Exh. cat. Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 2017: 47 n. 28.

2019: Pasqualini, Daniela. Masaccio. Guida ragionata alle opere di Masaccio in Italia. Bologna, 2019: 153.