Man in a Blue Cap

A careful examination will reveal, in the upper left corner, Albrecht Dürer’s monogram and the year 1492; this led to the painting being bought and catalogued for the first time (Ältester Katalog) as the work of the famous German Renaissance painter. However, the monogram and the year of execution were added much later, in the 18th century, probably owing to the high market value that Dürer’s work enjoyed in the epoch. Nevertheless, the style of the painting and the particular type of chaperon on the man’s head, lead to the conclusion that the painting was made in the early 1430s.The painting represents the portrait of an man recently identified with Jean IV de Brabant, being part of the series of works by the same artist, such as A Man in a Turban (1433) in the National Gallery, London, considered to be a self-portrait, or Portrait of Jan de Leeuw (1436), currently in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, that is a portrait of the jeweller. ©Dana Roxana Hrib, European Art Gallery Guidebook, Second edition, Sibiu 2011.