Portrait of a Man

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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The Latin inscription in the top right corner names the female artist: CATHARINA. FILIA /IOHANNIS DE HEMES/SEN PINGEBAT. 1552. (‘Catharina, daughter of Johannes de Hemessen was painting [it]. 1552.’).

We don't know the sitter’s identity but he was clearly a wealthy man. His belt has gold ornaments and his sword too is golden. He wears gold rings on his fingers – one set with a shield, quartered in red and blue – and another hangs from a chain around his neck. In the mid-sixteenth century it was relatively common for people to wear rings on necklaces, possibly as pledges of affection.

The pose – one hand on the hip and the other grasping the hilt of a sword – seems to have been taken from portraits painted at the Habsburg courts in the 1540s.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Portrait of a Man

Date

possibly 1552

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 36.2 x W 29.2 cm

Accession number

NG1042

Acquisition method

Bought, 1878

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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