Artwork
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of a Man is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Niccolò Cassana. It dates from 1640 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The visual meaning centers on the individual presence of the man, without additional symbolic elements described in the available records.
The work is identified as a portrait depicting a man, with one source identifying the subject as Niccolò Cassana himself, suggesting it functions as a self-portrait (its German title is recorded as Selbstbildnis). The primary iconography focuses solely on the male figure, consistent with the genre classification of a portrait. The visual meaning centers on the individual presence of the man, without additional symbolic elements described in the available records.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 68 cm by 48 cm, created in Italy around 1640. It portrays a man, likely Niccolò Cassana himself, and exemplifies a formal portrait style with restrained brushwork and naturalistic rendering typical of seventeenth-century European portraiture.
History & Provenance
Portrait of a Man is an oil on canvas attributed to Niccolò Cassana, dated around 1640. The work passed through several collections, including the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and, during and after the Second World War, the Führermuseum and the Munich Central Collecting Point, before entering the Rijksmuseum, where it is held under inventory number SK-A-4020.
Overview
Created in 1640, this oil portrait is attributed to Niccolò Cassana, a Venetian painter working during the late Baroque era. The canvas presents a seated gentleman rendered against an unadorned backdrop, allowing the sitter’s features to dominate the composition. The work exemplifies the period’s focus on individualized representation within a restrained setting.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Niccolò Cassana (often called Nicoletto; 1659 – c. 1713) was an Italian painter, primarily of portraits, born in Venice, Republic of Venice and active during the late-Baroque. His older brother Giovanni Agostino…
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