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Portrait of a Gentleman
Giovanni Battista Moroniabout 1555-6
The National Gallery, London
London, United Kingdom
The man in this portrait has not been identified. The tunic is the kind worn beneath armour and he rests his hand against a helmet and on a broken column.The column shaft may symbolise the sitter's fortitude or, since it is broken, his misfortunes; but slightly ruinous marble settings were common in Moroni's portraiture.
For much of the 19th century this portrait was attributed to Titian. The style of tunic allows the approximate dating for the work.
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Details
- Title: Portrait of a Gentleman
- Creator: Giovanni Battista Moroni
- Date Created: about 1555-6
- Physical Dimensions: 186.2 x 99.9 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- School: Italian (Bergamo)
- More Info: Explore the National Gallery’s paintings online
- Inventory number: NG1316
- Full Title: Portrait of a Gentleman with his Helmet on a Column Shaft
- Artist Dates: 1520/4 - 1579
- Artist Biography: Moroni is one of the most famous North Italian portrait specialists of the 16th century. He was a native of Albino, near Bergamo. In his early years he worked in Brescia and at Trent (1551-2). Later altarpieces and portraits were painted for clients in and around Bergamo and Albino, where he settled in 1561. His portraits have great psychological penetration, which owes less to his master and more to the Venetian tradition of portraiture as it had been evolved by Giorgione and Titian.
- Acquisition Credit: Bought, 1890
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