Portrait of a Man with an Arrow

c. 1470/1475

Hans Memling

Artist, Netherlandish, active c. 1465 - 1494

Shown from the shoulders up, a man with peachy skin looks off to our left as he holds the feathered end of an arrow up in a hand resting along the bottom edge of this vertical portrait painting. Shown against a marine-blue background, he looks into the distance with hazel eyes under bushy eyebrows. He has a long, bumped nose, and his full, pale pink lips are closed. His round cheeks are tinged with pink, and there is a hint of a five-o-clock shadow around his mouth and jawline. Chestnut-brown, curly hair hangs to the base of his neck, and wispy curls fall across his forehead from under his tall, chocolate-brown cap. The cap has a small gold pin high over the ear we can see. The man wears a garnet-red jacket with a black collar over a white collarless shirt decorated with five black, narrow bands below the neckline. The fingers of his right hand, to our left, rest with the fingertips braced along on the bottom edge of the painting, as if along a ledge. He pinches the shaft of an arrow with his index finger and thumb, so we see the sienna-brown feathers. He wears a gold ring embedded with a small blue gem near the first knuckle of his ring finger.

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 39

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 31.3 x 25.1 cm (12 5/16 x 9 7/8 in.)
    overall (panel): 31.9 x 25.8 cm (12 9/16 x 10 3/16 in.)
    framed: 40.2 x 32.7 x 6.4 cm (15 13/16 x 12 7/8 x 2 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.42

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

British private collection, until 1895.[1] (Bourgeois Frères, Cologne), in 1895.[2] Baron Albert Oppenheim [1834-1912], Cologne, from 1895; purchased 1912 by (F. Kleinberger and Co., New York); sold 5 January 1916 to Michael Dreicer [1868-1921], New York;[3] bequest 1921 to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 22.60.45); returned 8 March 1933 to Michael Dreicer's widow, Maisie Dreicer Whyte [1889-1976, née Shainwald, from 1923 Mrs. Jardine Bell Whyte, and from 1935 Baroness de Kerchove];[4] (M. Knoedler & Co., New York);[5] purchased February 1936 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[6] gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] According to a letter of 17 November 1912, from Friedländer to Kleinberger in the Kleinberger archives held by the Department of European Paintings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, under Bouts, Portrait of a Man (acc. no. 14.40.644); information supplied by Lorne Campbell, letter of 28 August 1980 to John Hand, in NGA curatorial files.
[2] Friedländer letter cited in note 1.
[3] Information about Kleinberger's purchase and sale of the painting is according to the Kleinberger archives held by the Department of European Paintings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; see the letter of 6 September 1979 from Mary Sprinson to John Hand, in NGA curatorial files, which was sent with a copy of the Kleinberger card for the painting.
[4] Letter cited in note 3, which was sent with copies of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's original catalogue card for the painting. Mrs. Dreicer Whyte obtained the painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a result of the contestation of Michael Driecer's will by his heirs.
[5] The painting is number 1427 in Knoedler's Painting Stock Book 8 (stock numbers A1-A2680, January 1928-November 1943, M. Knoedler & Co. Records, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). The entry is listed under Mrs. Whyte, and there is an added reference "A.S. Drey July 21 / 33."
[6] The purchase date is recorded in Mellon records documenting the gift to NGA, copies in NGA curatorial files. The sale date is recorded in the Knoedler stock book (see n. 5) as June 1936; this could have been when payment was completed.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1902

  • Exposition des primitifs flamands et d'art ancien, Hôtel de Gouvernement Provincial, Bruges, 1902, no. 70.

1912

  • Exposition de la miniature, Hôtel Goffinet, Brussels, 1912, no. 2031.

1994

  • Hans Memling, Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium, 1994, no. 11, repro.

2005

  • The Portraits of Memling, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; Groeningemuseum, Bruges; The Frick Collection, New York, 2005, no. 13 [Madrid] and 11 [Bruges], repro.

2018

  • Michel Sittow: Estonian Painter at the Courts of Renaissance Europe, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia, 2018, no. 7, repro.

Bibliography

1899

  • Kaemmerer, Ludwig. Memling. Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1899: 20-21, fig. 16.

1900

  • Nieuwbarn, M. C. Hans Memling. Leipzig, 1900: no. 52, repro.

  • Voll, Karl. Review of Memling by Ludwig Kaemmerer. In Kunstchronik N.F. 12 (1900/1901): 115.

1902

  • Hymans, Henri. "L'Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 28 (1902): 292, repro. opp. 294, etching by J. Vyboud (repr. as a book, Paris, 1902: 60).

  • Hulin de Loo, Georges. Exposition de tableaux flamands des XIVe, XVe, et XVIe siècles. Catalogue critique. Exh. cat. Hôtel du Gouvernement Provincial, Bruges. Ghent, 1902: 17, no. 70.

1903

  • Friedländer, Max J. "Die Brügger Leihausstellung von 1902." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 26 (1903): 82.

  • Mont, Pol de. L'Evolution de la peinture néerlandaise aux XIVe, XVe et XVIe siècles et l'exposition de Bruges. Haarlem, 1903: no. 106, repro.

  • Weale, W. H. James. "The Early Painters of the Netherlands as Illustrated by the Bruges Exhibitiion of 1902." The Burlington Magazine 1 (1903): 336.

1904

  • Molinier, Émile. Collection du Baron Albert Oppenheim. Tableaux et objets d'art. Paris, 1904: 10, no. 25, pl. XXII.

1906

  • Voll, Karl. Die altniederländische Malerei von Jan van Eyck bis Memling. Leipzig, 1906: 188-189, 225.

  • Wurzbach, Alfred von. Niederlandisches Kunstler-Lexikon. 3 vols. Vienna, 1906-1911: 2(1910):140.

1907

  • Vollmer, Hans. "Memling." In Thieme-Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 26(1926):376.

1912

  • Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte. "Correspondance de Belgique. L'Exposition de la miniature à Bruxelles." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 7 (1912): 194-195.

1916

  • Friedländer, Max J. Von Eyck bis Bruegel. Berlin, 1916: 179.

1919

  • Friedländer, Max J. "About Some of Hans Memling's Pictures in the United States." Art in America 8 (1919/1920): 107-108, fig. 2.

1922

  • Wehle, Harry B. "The Michael Dreicer Collection." Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 17 (1922): 100, 102, repro.

1924

  • Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. 7th ed. Compiled by Bryson Burroughs. New York, 1924: 221 (8th ed. 1926: 233; 9th ed. 1931: 241).

  • Friedländer, Max. Die altniederländische Malerei. 14 vols.. Berlin and Leiden, 1924-1937. Berlin, 1934: 6:44, 131, no. 85. (English transl. 14 vols. Leiden, 1967-1976. Leiden, 1971: 6 pt.1:8-29, 56, 130, no. 85, pl. 119.)

1926

  • Stein, Wilhelm. "Die Bildnisse von Roger van der Weyden." Jahrbuch der königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen (Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen) 47 (1926): 30-31.

1927

  • Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte, and Paul Fierens. Histoire de la peinture flamande des origines à la fin du XVe siècle. 3 vols. Paris and Brussels, 1927-1929: 3:62, 72.

1934

  • Huisman, Georges. Memlinc. Paris, 1934: 149.

1935

  • Fierens, Paul. Memling. Paris, 1935: no. 13, repro.

1937

  • Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 35.

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 73.

1939

  • Bazin, Germain. Memling. Paris, 1939: 20, pl. 6.

  • Kantorowicz, Ernst H. "The Este Portrait by Roger van der Weyden." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 3 (1939/1940): 178, fig. 32c.

1941

  • Held, Julius S. "Masters of Northern Europe, 1430-1660, in the National Gallery." Art News 40, no. 8 (June 1941): 11, repro. 13.

  • De Tolnay, Charles. "Flemish Paintings in the National Gallery of Art." Magazine of Art 34 (April 1941): 186, 200, repro. 187.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 132, no. 42.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 39.

1949

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 58, repro.

1954

  • Buttin, Charles. "La flèche des juges du camp." Armes anciennes 1 (1954): 59, pl. 20.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 304, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 89.

1968

  • Nickel, Helmut. "Ceremonial Arrowheads from Bohemia." Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal 1 (1968): 78, fig. 31.

  • Whinney, Margaret. Early Flemish Painting. New York and Washington, 1968: 89, pl. 55.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 78, repro.

1969

  • Corti, Maria, and Giorgio T. Faggin. L'opera completa di Memling. Milan, 1969: 111, no. 111, repro.

  • Wuyts, L. "Aantekeningen bij een vermeend portret van Jean Lefèvre door Rogier van der Weyden." Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (1969): 82, fig. 14.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 230, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 131, repro., no. 127.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 130, no. 121, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 266, repro.

1986

  • Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 188-193, repro. 189.

1994

  • Vos, Dirk de. Hans Memling: The Complete Works. Translated by Ted Alkins. Antwerp and Ghent, 1994: no. 29, 146-147, color fig.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 58, no. 41, color repro.

2007

  • Michiels, Alfred. Hans Memling. New York, 2007: 206-207, color fig.

  • Lane, Barbara G. Hans Memling: Master Painter in Fifteenth-Century Bruges. London, 2009: 80-81, 319, 67.

Wikidata ID

Q20174026

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