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Head of a Man in Red

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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This characterful portrait is a pair to Head of a Man in Blue, also in our collection.

A man looks out, his eyes sparkling and head slightly cocked. His mouth is open, as if he is speaking, and he has crooked and missing teeth. A cheerful demeanour animates his face, as do the wisps of hair poking out from under his hat and the upturned tufts of his moustache.

The style and subject of this picture are typical of Giacomo Francesco Cipper, an artist who specialised in low-life scenes. The man here is evidently poor – the sleeve of his red jacket is coming away at the seam, and the cloth has been roughly stitched along his shoulder – but the artist’s portrayal is very sympathetic. The paint has been quickly and loosely applied without blending the daubs of colour, giving this work (and its pair) a ‘blotchy’ – almost impressionistic – appearance and sense of immediacy.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Head of a Man in Red

Date

probably 1700-50

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 46.1 x W 35.9 cm

Accession number

NG5469

Acquisition method

Bequeathed by Maurice Woolff Jacobson, 1944

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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