The Artist: For a biography of Quinten Massys, see the Catalogue Entry for the
Adoration of the Magi (
11.143)
The Subject: In this tightly cropped, bust-length portrait, a high-ranking man wears a gown of black velvet, with a sable lining and collar that extends over his shoulders. His
mi-parti doublet is cloth of gold on the proper right side, and cloth of silver in an interlace pattern of lozenge shapes on the proper left side, all finished with a narrow black edging. There is a secondary edging at his neck where there is an embroidered inscription, LEVER (or LEVEL?). The cuffs of his white linen shirt oddly do not match. The
mi-parti doublet may indicate a short-lived fashion or possibly part of a livery (Scott 2020). The figures represented on the badge of the man’s black hat are difficult to decipher, but they may show a religious theme that would link the badge to the prominent crucifix pendant hanging from a thick gold chain. If so, then the sprig of borage that he holds in his right hand may not be a symbol of betrothal as Marquand (1943) supposed. It more likely is emblematic of devout meditation on Christ’s suffering, for
Borago officinalis is a healing herb for heart tremors and melancholy, which Robert Campin previously employed, among other Passion plants, in his
Veronica with the Sudarium (Städel Museum, Frankfurt; see Bergmann 1987, p. 286). The decorative hilt of a rapier in the man’s left hand is especially noteworthy (La Rocca 2020). The hilt’s three-dimensional gilt-bronze pommel shows two intertwined creatures, possibly salamanders, encircling a central enamel or glass (?) disc embedded with a pearl. The knuckle guard by contrast is relatively plain with a few twists near its base.
Lorne Campbell (1981, 1984) called attention to a notice in the
Notebooks (1731–36, vol. IV, pp. 115–16) of the eighteenth-century British engraver and antiquary George Vertue, wherein he described a portrait of John Barrow, signed by Quinten Massys and dated 1521: “At the Top Johannes Barrow filius Mauritii Barrow Militis. It is a head with his hat on a small gold chain about his neck a flower in his hand. a folding frame his Armes at large in the middle of the Cover or lid—motto en dieu est tout at bottom / aetatis mea anno 30 die Johannis evangelista 26 decembris / factum per Quintin Metsiis, anno Dni 1521, die 6’ Junii.”
Despite Campbell’s appealing hypothesis that The Met’s portrait could represent John Barrow, close technical examination of the original, engaged frame has not revealed any remnants of an inscription at the top, nor any evidence of former hinges at the side that would have connected a “folding frame” with additional identifying information. Furthermore, Vertue’s summary description of the portrait could easily fit any number of candidates. The sitter was clearly a man of considerable wealth and social status; unfortunately, his identity remains unknown. As he directly addresses the viewer, this was most likely an independent portrait and not half of a diptych.
Attribution and Dating: The challenge of securing a reliable attribution and date for this portrait is complicated by the overall poor condition of the painting (see Technical Notes). Dendrochronology was not possible because of the physical circumstances of the cradled reverse. The flesh tones in particular have suffered due to aggressive cleanings before the picture came to The Met in 1931, and there are losses and abrasion generally throughout. Gustav Waagen (1857) was the first to attribute the portrait to Massys. Max J. Friedländer concurred thereafter (1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1972), although his wavering about the date from 1505, to 1510, to 1510–20 reveals a concomitant indecision resulting from the picture’s state. As De Bosque (1975) pointed out, the costume of the sitter suggests a date around 1515–20, but this is problematic for the demonstrably earlier style of the work, leading her to suggest that the attribution to Massys is “improbable.” Ludwig Baldass (1933) and Larry Silver (1984, p. 232) noted that its relationship to portraits by Jan van Eyck, namely the
Portrait of Jan de Leeuw of 1436 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; see fig. 1 above), would tend to place the painting early around 1509, a date not supported by the man’s costume. If we compare the rather animated Winterthur
Portrait of a Man of 1509 (fig. 3) and even the more staid Karlsruhe
Portrait of a Man of 1517 (fig. 4) with The Met portrait, the latter shows a lack of strong articulation of facial features and modeling of the face, and a relatively weak form and expression of the hands. The Massys
Portrait of a Man of around 1520 (private Collection, Belgium; fig. 2), which is the pendant to The Met’s
Portrait of a Woman (
32.100.47), is also diminished in its state and condition, but even so, it presents a certain strength of character and assertive quality typical of Massys’s portraits that is lacking in the present example. Given the relative weaknesses inherent in The Met’s
Portrait of a Man, even taking into account its state and condition, it fits more reliably among those portraits influenced by Massys than those by his own hand.
Maryan W. Ainsworth 2020
