A Man

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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This striking portrait of a man in a red hat forms a pair with Campin’s A Woman – the sitters were clearly husband and wife. We do not know who they were, but their clothes suggest they were prosperous townsfolk, perhaps from Tournai where Campin lived and worked. Campin has arranged the older husband’s clothes and face to convey his character: he seems world-weary, uncertain and disillusioned. His face is dimly lit and his skin sags beneath his jaw and forms crow’s feet around his dull eyes. He slouches. His head is off centre, and his hat has been brought forward so it seems to press down on his head. Instead of looking out at us he gazes across at his wife. The shadows cast on his face stress the falling lines of the pattern Campin has created.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A Man

Date

about 1435

Medium

Oil with egg tempera on oak

Measurements

H 40.7 x W 28.1 cm

Accession number

NG653.1

Acquisition method

Bought, 1860

Work type

Painting

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