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Portrait of a Young Man

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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We are looking through an arched window of a brick house at a well-dressed young man. He holds a heart-shaped book; a pen case and inkwell sit on the window ledge. This tiny painting was possibly once part of a diptych (a painting made of two parts). The young man may be at his devotions, and might originally have been gazing at a religious image in the missing left wing.

There are no obvious indications who the sitter was. He may have been a scribe, though clearly – considering his clothes and jewellery – an affluent one. Behind him is the church of Our Lady of the Zavel and a view towards the walls of Brussels. This is one of the earliest known views of the city and an early example of a relatively exact rendering of a recognisable place.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Portrait of a Young Man

Date

probably early 1480s

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 22.8 x W 14 cm

Accession number

NG2612

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

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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