Portrait of a Man with a Landscape View
1552/1556
Painter, Venetian, 1518 or 1519 - 1594
Painter, Netherlandish, 1532 - 1603
This painting belongs to a group of portraits by Jacopo Tintoretto and his studio that adhere to a similar compositional formula derived primarily from Titian: a three-quarter-length standing figure, with the body turned facing the viewer, and with drapery and architectural forms in the background, often before a window with a distant view. In this case, the identity of the sitter is unknown, and the location of the landscape in the background has not been identified. Nevertheless, the landscape provides important clues about the creation of the painting. Its style and pictorial technique differ from those in the landscapes in other Tintoretto portraits, which suggests that it was contributed by another artist.
Tintoretto employed workshop assistants throughout his career, and among them were a number of painters from beyond the Alps, some of whom were employed as landscape specialists. This particular landscape has notable similarities in style and use of color to the work of the Flemish painter Marten de Vos (1532–1603), who was in Venice at the very beginning of his career, from 1552 to 1556. Marten is said to have insinuated himself into Tintoretto’s studio in order to learn the master’s methods and occasionally painted landscapes for him. Based on comparison with Marten’s work both during and after his time in Venice, the landscape in the Gallery’s portrait can be attributed to Marten during his years in Venice.
West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G16
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 110.5 x 88 cm (43 1/2 x 34 5/8 in.)
framed: 141.6 x 118.1 cm (55 3/4 x 46 1/2 in.) -
Accession
1943.7.10
More About this Artwork
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Purchased 1839 in Bologna by William Buchanan [1777-1846], London.[1] R.P. Nichols, Esq., by 1868.[2] Robert Stayner Holford [1808-1892], Dorchester House, London, by 1887;[3] by inheritance to Sir George Lindsay Holford [1860-1926], Dorchester House; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 15 July 1927, no. 111); purchased by Hopkins, London. Leopold Hirsch [d. 1932], London; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 11 May 1934, no. 136); purchased by (J. and S. Goldschmidt, Frankfurt, London, and New York). (Galerie Étienne Bignou, Paris); sold 14 December 1934 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; gift 1943 to NGA.
[1] According to the bill of sale from Etienne Bignou to Chester Dale dated 14 December 1934, in NGA curatorial files.
[2] The painting was lent by Nichols to the 1868 National Exhibition of Works of Art at Leeds.
[3] The painting was lent by Holford to the Royal Academy's Winter Exhibition in 1887.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1868
National Exhibition of Works of Art, Leeds, 1868, no. 136a, as A Venetian Senator.[1]
1887
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1887, no. 139, as Portrait of a Man.
1894
Exhibition of Venetian Art, New Gallery, London, 1894-1895, no. 162, as Portrait of a Man.
1965
The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.
Bibliography
1901
Thode, Henry. Tintoretto. Bielefeld, 1901: 80.
1903
Stoughton Holborn, Ian Bernard. Jacopo Robusti, called Tintoretto. London, 1903: 102-103.
1906
Berenson, Bernard. The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance. 3rd ed. New York and London, 1906: 136.
1927
Benson, Robert H. The Holford Collection, Dorchester House. 2 vols. Oxford, 1927: no. 80, pl. 74.
1932
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works with an Index of Places. Oxford, 1932: 560.
1943
Washington Times-Herald (18 July 1943): C-10.
1948
Tietze, Hans. Tintoretto: The Paintings and Drawings. New York, 1948: 381.
1957
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Venetian School. 2 vols. London, 1957: 1:183.
1965
Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 9, repro.
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 128.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 115, repro.
1969
Rossi, Paola. “Una recente pubblicazione sul Tintoretto e il problema della sua ritrattistica.” Arte Veneta 23 (1969): 268.
1970
De Vecchi, Pierluigi. L’opera completa del Tintoretto. Milan, 1970: 112, no. 184.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 201.
1974
Rossi, Paola. Jacopo Tintoretto: I ritratti. Venice, 1974: 29, 131, fig. 30.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 340, repro.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:464-465; 2:pl. 331.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 392, repro.
Wikidata ID
Q20176737