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Portrait of a Man

1550s
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 612

One of Tintoretto’s finest formal portraits, this painting depicts an unknown sitter now believed to be a German or Flemish merchant living in Venice. His bowl-cut hairstyle and clean-shaven cheeks distinguish him from bearded Italian contemporaries. Seated in an X-frame Savonarola chair, he strikes a commanding presence gazing directly at the viewer. Conservation treatment has revealed the lively brushwork in the folds of the cloak, and analysis suggests the artist worked from life with assured, gestural brushwork and few changes from his initial sketch on the canvas. Tintoretto was praised by contemporaries for the prestezza, or speed, with which he captured the likeness of his sitters, lending his portraits an acute psychological presence.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of a Man
  • Artist: Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) (Italian, Venice 1518/19–1594 Venice)
  • Date: 1550s
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 44 3/8 x 35 in. (112.7 x 88.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941
  • Object Number: 41.100.12
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
Doge Alvise Mocenigo (1507–1577) Presented to the Redeemer, Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) Italian, Oil on canvas
Doge Alvise Mocenigo (1507–1577) Presented to the Redeemer
Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)
probably 1577
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
North Italian
ca. 1610
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788), Adélaïde Labille-Guiard French, Oil on canvas
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788)
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
1785
Portrait of a Young Man, Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano) Italian, Oil on wood
Portrait of a Young Man
Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano)
1530s
The Finding of Moses, Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) Italian, Oil on canvas
The Finding of Moses
Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)
1560s?

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