Artwork
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of a Man is an oil painting. It dates from 1835 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting titled Portrait of a Man, created in 1835 by an anonymous French artist, is executed in oil on canvas and belongs to the portrait genre.
The painting titled Portrait of a Man, created in 1835 by an anonymous French artist, is executed in oil on canvas and belongs to the portrait genre. It portrays a male sitter, identified in the catalog as the main subject, and is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. The work offers a straightforward representation of a gentleman without additional iconographic or symbolic attributes noted in the documentation, reflecting the conventional approach to bourgeois portraiture in the mid‑19th century.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard medium for nineteenth-century European portraiture. Its modest dimensions, 53.3 cm in height by 45.7 cm in width, indicate an intimate bust- or half-length format typical of the genre. The painting is classified as a portrait and depicts a male sitter, consistent with the bust-length convention favored for individual likenesses of this period.
Beyond these basic technical parameters, the sources provide no further detail regarding handling, brushwork, surface condition, or stylistic attributes.
History & Provenance
Portrait of a Man is an oil-on-canvas portrait dated to 1835 and attributed to an anonymous French painter. The work exemplifies the portrait genre of the period and is presently housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is recorded under accession number 1975.1.205. Measuring 53.3 cm in height and 45.7 cm in width, it entered the museum's collection in 1975.
No earlier owners or commission details are recorded in the available sources, so the known provenance begins with its entry into the Met's holdings.
Context
Portrait of a Man is an 1835 oil on canvas portrait attributed to an anonymous French painter, documented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. The work exemplifies early‑mid nineteenth‑century French portraiture, a genre characterized by formal composition and limited personalization of the sitter. As part of the Met's holdings, it contributes to scholarly understanding of anonymous portrait production during the July Monarchy, illustrating how such works functioned as status markers for the bourgeoisie.
Its dimensions (53.3 × 45.7 cm) and material details are recorded in the cataloguing data, situating it within the broader corpus of European portrait painting.
Overview
This oil painting, titled "Portrait of a Man," depicts a male figure in formal attire. The sitter is presented with a serious demeanor, his features illuminated against a subdued backdrop. The artist employs specific lighting techniques to emphasize the subject's presence and create a sense of three-dimensionality within the composition, characteristic of portraiture focused on individual representation.
Artist & collection
- Self-Portrait
Selbstporträt
Portretul revoluționarului Zaharia Boerescu
Retrato de Antonio Rodríguez Ro (Retrato de Antonio Rodriguez Roo)
Portrait of Don Manuel José de Guerrico
Portrait of a man
Retrato de José Gerónimo Rodríguez
Portrait of Józef Węgleński
Aga Iancu Manu
Alberto Cavos
Kemény Zsigmond
Portret de bărbat
