Artwork
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of a Man is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Lambert Sustris. It dates from 1551 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work belongs to the portrait genre and was owned by the collector Jules Bache before entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portrait of a Man, painted by Lambert Sustris in 1551, portrays an unidentified male sitter rendered in oil on canvas (120.7 × 92.7 cm). The work belongs to the portrait genre and was owned by the collector Jules Bache before entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its iconography consists of the conventional elements of a Renaissance portrait, a dignified pose, sober attire, and a direct gaze, signifying the sitter's social status and personal identity.
As a painting, it functions both as a record of individual appearance and as a visual statement of masculine authority within the cultural context of the mid-sixteenth century.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for mid-sixteenth-century portraiture. Its dimensions are recorded as 120.7 cm in height by 92.7 cm in width, giving it a substantial upright format well suited to a half-length or three-quarter-length depiction of a single male sitter. The painting is classified as a portrait and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The combination of oil medium and canvas support is consistent with Lambert Sustris's working practice during the period around 1551, allowing for layered glazes and blended modeling typical of Venetian-influenced portrait handling. Beyond these cataloged technical facts, the sources do not provide further detail on underdrawing, condition, or specific stylistic qualities.
History & Provenance
The portrait is dated 1551 and attributed to Lambert Sustris. Executed in oil on canvas and measuring 120.7 cm in height by 92.7 cm in width, it entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art via the Jules Bache collection. The work's early history prior to Bache's ownership is not documented in the cited sources, which list neither a specific accession number nor an exhibition history for the piece.
Context
Portrait of a Man, executed by Lambert Sustris in 1551, is an oil-on-canvas portrait in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, formerly owned by the collector Jules Bache. Its presence in a major museum reflects its relevance to scholarship on sixteenth-century portraiture and the study of Lambert Sustris's artistic output.
Legacy
Through its entry into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its association with the prominent Bache collection, Portrait of a Man has retained a place in art-historical study as an example of sixteenth-century portraiture by Lambert Sustris. Its continued display supports ongoing interest in the artist's career and in the cross-currents between Northern European and Venetian portrait practice.
Overview
Lambert Sustris, a Dutch painter active in Italy, created this Portrait of a Man in 1551. Executed in oil on canvas, the work exemplifies the artist's engagement with Venetian Mannerism. The painting is part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Sustris, known in Italy as Alberto de Olanda, developed his distinctive style while working primarily in Venice, often depicting both portraits and landscapes.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Lambert Sustris (c. 1515/1520 – c. 1584) was a Dutch painter active mainly in Venice. The works Sustris completed in Italy exhibit either a Mannerist style or qualities that may be deemed proto-Baroque. He is also…
