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Portrait of a Man in a Quilted Gown

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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We don’t know who the sitter in this portrait is, but Adriaen van der Werff has portrayed him as a man of leisure and a lover of antiquities. He is pictured outside in his garden, wearing a luxurious quilted silk robe and white cravat. He gazes out at us, his eyes thoughtful and intelligent though perhaps a little distant.

A Greek sculpture in the background is a copy of the so-called Farnese Flora – we don't know whether the figure represents Flora or Pomona, both goddesses of fertility and fruitfulness – which had been discovered sometime before 1532 in Rome. Here, the sculpture’s pose is in reverse; it was probably known to the artist in an engraving. It proclaims the sitter as a man of taste and refinement who would know of new discoveries and developments in the understanding of the classical age.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Portrait of a Man in a Quilted Gown

Date

1685

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 47.3 x W 38.3 cm

Accession number

NG1660

Acquisition method

Presented by Sir Edward Malet, 1898

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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