Artwork
Man Weighing Gold
Man Weighing Gold is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Adriaen Isenbrandt. It dates from 1515 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents a male figure engaged in the act of weighing gold, a subject that fuses portraiture with a moralizing theme.
The painting presents a male figure engaged in the act of weighing gold, a subject that fuses portraiture with a moralizing theme. According to the work's cataloguing, it depicts a man, a coin, and a weighing scale, with the portrait genre framing the figure as an individual while the attributes of money and the scale introduce a symbolic dimension. The presence of the coin and balance situates the image within the tradition of allegorical portraits concerned with wealth, avarice, or the weighing of souls, suggesting a meditation on the value of material riches versus spiritual worth.
By combining a likeness of a specific man with the iconographic apparatus of gold and scales, the work invites reflection on the moral implications of handling and measuring precious metal.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1515 by Adriaen Isenbrandt, this portrait utilizes oil paint applied to a wooden panel support. The work measures 50.8 cm in height and 30.5 cm in width. Stylistically, the composition focuses on a male figure engaged with a weighing scale and coins, elements that define the painting's genre as a portrait concerned with commerce or wealth.
The application of oil medium on panel was characteristic of Netherlandish painting of this period, allowing for the detailed rendering of textures such as the metallic scales and the subject's features. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, having previously been owned by Michael Friedsam.
History & Provenance
Man Weighing Gold was painted by Adriaen Isenbrandt in 1515 as an oil on panel portrait depicting a man at a scale with coins. The work entered the collection of New York collector Michael Friedsam, who owned it before his death. Following Friedsam’s bequest, the painting was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains today.
No documentary evidence of a specific commission survives, but the dating and style place it firmly within Isenbrandt’s early‑sixteenth‑century output in Bruges.
Overview
The oil painting titled "Man Weighing Gold" presents a singular figure absorbed in a precise activity. A man, distinguished by a dark hat and a patterned fur collar, stands against a plain green wall. His steady hands meticulously balance a small wooden scale, carefully assessing the weight of coins.
The composition focuses intently on his serious expression and the deliberate nature of his task, drawing the viewer into this moment of measurement.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Adriaen Isenbrandt or Adriaen Ysenbrandt (between 1480 and 1490 – July 1551) was a painter in Bruges, in the final years of Early Netherlandish painting, and the first of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting of the Northern…
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