Portrait of a Man
c. 1575
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 46.8 × 33.9 cm (18 7/16 × 13 3/8 in.); Framed: 61 × 48.6 × 5.1 cm (24 × 19 1/8 × 2 in.)
- Culture
- Flanders
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Credit line
- Samuel P. Avery Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
A mottled background, pitch-black costume, and bright ruff all serve to highlight the enigmatic visage of this unidentified man. Though his arresting gaze invites the viewer in, his face is also turned away and cast partially in shadow, as if he seeks to keep his distance from the individual on the other side of the picture plane. Other versions of this composition exist, suggesting that the man’s mysterious character and distinctive appearance captivated many artists and patrons of his time.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
