Artwork
Portrait of an Old Man
Portrait of an Old Man is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio. It dates from 1520 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work thus reads as a conventional study of an elderly male sitter, with no documented allegorical, religious, or symbolic attributes attached to the figure.
The painting is a portrait of an unidentified man, executed by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio in 1520. According to the catalogue record, the work depicts a male sitter wearing a beret, and the main subject is identified simply as a man. No further identification of the individual, such as a name, profession, or social role, is provided in the available sources.
Because the sitter's identity is not specified, the portrait's meaning rests on its generic character rather than on a specific iconographic program. The beret, a common headwear in sixteenth-century Italian male portraiture, situates the figure within the conventions of contemporary Florentine portrait practice, where such caps were routinely used to convey dignity and maturity. The work thus reads as a conventional study of an elderly male sitter, with no documented allegorical, religious, or symbolic attributes attached to the figure.
Technique & Style
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio executed the Portrait of an Old Man in 1520 using oil paint applied to a canvas support. The work measures 61 cm in height and 50.5 cm in width. As a portrait, the painting depicts a man wearing a beret, rendered with the formal qualities typical of the genre. The piece is currently held in the Hermitage Museum collection.
History & Provenance
Portrait of an Old Man is an oil-on-canvas work by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, dated to 1520 and produced in Italy. The painting entered the collection of the Hermitage Museum, where it remains held today. No further details of commission, intermediate ownership, or earlier provenance are documented in the available sources.
The work is recorded as a portrait depicting a man wearing a beret, and its dimensions are given as 61 by 50.5 cm. Beyond its creation in Italy in 1520 and its subsequent presence in the Hermitage collection, the available records do not specify a patron, document a chain of prior owners, or note any earlier custodial history.
Overview
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, a Florentine painter of the early sixteenth century and son of the renowned Domenico Ghirlandaio, completed an oil portrait in 1520 that depicts an elderly gentleman. The work exemplifies the Mannerist tendency toward stylized representation while retaining a clear focus on the sitter’s individual character. It is presently part of the State Hermitage Museum’s collection.
Artist & collection
Artist
Ridolfo di Domenico Bigordi, better known as Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (14 February 1483 – 6 June 1561) was an Italian Renaissance painter active mainly in Florence. He was the son of Domenico Ghirlandaio.
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