Artwork
A Knight of the Golden Fleece
A Knight of the Golden Fleece is an oil painting by the Early Renaissance artist Jean Perréal. It dates from 1495 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The medium of oil on wood panel allows for the luminous, layered glazes and fine detail characteristic of late fifteenth-century portraiture.
The painting is executed in oil on European walnut, a support typical of early Netherlandish and French panel painting. The work measures 68 by 53.7 cm. The medium of oil on wood panel allows for the luminous, layered glazes and fine detail characteristic of late fifteenth-century portraiture. The formal qualities reflect the conventions of Northern Renaissance court portraiture: a bust-length presentation against a dark, neutral background that focuses attention on the sitter's face and the rich insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
The handling is precise and refined, with careful attention to the textures of flesh, fabric, and the gold collar of the order, demonstrating the technical sophistication of French painting at the close of the fifteenth century.
History & Provenance
Dated to 1495, this oil portrait on European walnut was possibly in the collection of Paul Cassirer in Berlin during the 1920s. Archival notes indicate that conservator William Suhr restored the work while it was under Cassirer's ownership, though definitive sales records linking the dealer to the next owner remain elusive. By 1927 or 1928, the painting belonged to Arthur Sachs, who maintained residences in New York, Paris, and Cannes.
Sachs is documented as the owner in a 1928 Detroit exhibition catalogue. The work remained in Sachs's possession until he gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1964.
The painting is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It was acquired by the museum in 1964 as a gift. Its provenance includes possible ownership by Paul Cassirer in Berlin during the 1920s, followed by Arthur Sachs of New York, Paris, and Cannes, who held it by 1927/1928. The work was exhibited in Detroit in 1928 as part of a show featuring a French Primitive portrait lent by Sachs. It was later restored by William Suhr while in Cassirer's possession, a fact documented in archival correspondence.
Overview
Created circa 1495, A Knight of the Golden Fleece is an oil painting on a panel of European walnut. The work presents a solitary figure in profile, rendered with the careful detail characteristic of the early Renaissance. Its modest dimensions and refined execution reflect the artist’s engagement with portraiture for elite patrons.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter is shown wearing a black hat, a black tunic, and a vivid red cape, holding a wooden cane in his right hand. The combination of dark garments with the striking cape, together with the dignified pose, signals high social rank, likely a nobleman or senior court official, embodying the ideals of chivalric status.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean Perréal (French pronunciation:; c. 1455 – c. 1530), sometimes called Peréal, Johannes Parisienus or Jean De Paris, was a successful portraitist for French royalty in the first half of the 16th century, as well as…
- Emperor Maximilan I. (1459-1519)
König Karl VIII. (1470-1498) von Frankreich, im Profil, Brustbild
Portrait of Alessandro de Richao
Portrait of a Young Man (Lyons)
Portrait of a Young Man with an Apple
Bildnis des Hieronymus II. Haller zu Kalchreuth
Portrait of Maximiliaan I (1459-1519), Keizer van het Heilige Roomse Rijk 1493-1519
Emperor Maximilian I
Portrait of Philips 'de Schone' van Habsburg (1478-1506)
Herzog Philibert II. von Savoyen (1480-1504), Brustbild
Portrait of Maximilian I (1459-1519)
Maximilian I. (1459-1519), Brustbild