Skip to main content
National Gallery of Art National Gallery of Art

Directions

  • Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
  • Extended summer hours

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

    Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights

    Starting June 3

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured event:

    Block Party

    Join us June 6

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Shop
  • Support

Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

National Gallery of Art

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

    Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights

    Starting June 3

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured event:

    Block Party

    Join us June 6

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Shop
  • Support

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

    Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights

    Starting June 3

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured event:

    Block Party

    Join us June 6

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Shop
  • Support

Directions

  • Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
  • Extended summer hours

Global Search

Autocomplete Suggestions
    No Results
    Keep typing to get suggestions
    Loading Results

    Top Searches:

    • Free images
    • Van Gogh
    • Landscape
    • National Gallery Nights
    • Matisse
    Advanced Artwork Search

    Breadcrumb

    1. Home
    2. Artworks
    3. Michael Whitney Straight
    Provenance

    Michael Whitney Straight

    Explore selected works

    Artwork

    Rico Lebrun, The Ragged One, 1944, oil on canvas, Gift of Michael Straight, 1974.87.2

    The Ragged One

    The Ragged One

    Rico Lebrun · 1944 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1974.87.2

    Artwork

    Shown from the chest up against a black background, two men with peachy skin, one holding a brass-colored sphere made up of interlocking bands, fill this horizontal portrait painting. To our left, a boy or young man looks at us with dark eyes and his coral-pink lips are parted. His curly brown hair falls to his shoulders, and he wears a floppy, denim-blue hat. His emerald-green tunic is lined around the neck, shoulders, and down the front with bands of ruby red, and the neck is tied with a pale purple ribbon. A white shirt underneath shows at the neck and down a slit along the shoulder we can see. Along the bottom edge of the composition, the boy grips a paint brush, a quill pen, a flute, and a compass in his left fist. The man to our right leans toward the boy almost in profile. The second man has ash-brown, curly hair and the suggestion of a short beard on his chin. He has hooded eyes, a prominent nose, and his downturned lips are also parted. He wears a honey-yellow tunic over a white undergarment. A swath of scarlet red over his left shoulder, to our right, could be a cloak. In the space between the people, he holds up the armillary sphere, made up of overlapping bands to create an orb, in his right hand, on our left. A long, white scroll curls around the handle of the sphere, the man’s hand, and down near his wrist. The scroll is inscribed, “NON VALET. INGENIVM.NISI FACTA VALEBVNT.” He looks at the sphere and points to it with his other hand.
    Giorgione, Giovanni Borgherini and His Tutor, oil on canvas, Gift of Michael Straight, 1974.87.1

    Giovanni Borgherini and His Tutor

    Giovanni Borgherini and His Tutor

    Giorgione · · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1974.87.1

    Site Footer

    Home National Gallery of Art

    Hours

    Admission is always free.
    Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Sculpture Garden open until 8:00 p.m. select days this summer

    Locations

    • West Building

      6th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

    • East Building

      4th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

    • Sculpture Garden

      7th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

    Newsletter Sign Up Form

    Art news every week

    Subscribe

    * indicates required

    Follow us

    Social Media

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Footer Primary Menu

    • About
      • About Us
      • Press
      • Contact Us
    • Visit
      • Plan Your Visit
      • Calendar
      • Today's Tours
      • Accessibility
      • Exhibitions
    • Get Involved
      • Donate
      • Membership
      • Opportunities
    • Research
      • Free Images for Download
      • Artwork Search
      • The Center
      • Conservation
      • Library
      • Archives
      • Past Exhibitions
      • Publications
    © 2026 National Gallery of Art

    Legal Links

    • Notices
    • Privacy Policy