Portrait of an Old Man
This sympathetic portrayal of an elderly man once formed a diptych with a portrait of an old woman now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Unlike many other portrait pairs from this time, these were not parts of a devotional composition but were created with the idea of preserving the appearances of the sitters as they neared the ends of their lives, attesting to portraiture’s increasingly important commemorative function.
Artwork Details
- Title: Portrait of an Old Man
- Artist: Hans Memling (Netherlandish, Seligenstadt, active by 1465–died 1494 Bruges)
- Date: ca. 1475
- Medium: Oil on wood
- Dimensions: Overall 10 3/8 x 7 5/8 in. (26.4 x 19.4 cm); painted surface 10 x 7 1/4 in. (25.4 x 18.4 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
- Object Number: 14.40.648
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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