Artwork
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of a Man is an oil painting. It dates from 1512 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents a solitary male sitter, identified in the documented records as ‘a man’; no further descriptors or attributes are supplied.
The painting presents a solitary male sitter, identified in the documented records as ‘a man’; no further descriptors or attributes are supplied. The sources record the work as a straightforward portrait without accompanying symbolic motifs, attributes, or narrative elements that would suggest allegorical meaning. Consequently, the iconographic program is minimal, consisting solely of the figure’s physical presence, while the work’s significance is understood as a representation of an individual patron or sitter from the early sixteenth‑century context.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on a wooden panel, a standard support for Northern European portraiture of the early sixteenth century. The composition is relatively small in scale, measuring approximately 39.7 cm in height by 28.6 cm in width, an intimate format consistent with private devotional or commemorative likenesses of the period. The painting is classified as a portrait and depicts a single male sitter.
Attributed to the workshop of Quinten Massys, the handling reflects the workshop's characteristic approach to Netherlandish oil technique, with the medium applied to a prepared panel ground suitable for fine layered glazing. The panel support and oil medium together indicate traditional Flemish practice of the early 1500s. No specific condition notes are recorded in the available documentation.
History & Provenance
Portrait of a Man is an oil painting on panel dated 1512, attributed to the workshop of Quinten Massys. The work entered the collection of Michael Friedsam, a noted early twentieth-century collector, before passing into the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently housed. Beyond these documented ownership transitions, no additional provenance details, commission records, or earlier ownership history are recorded in the available sources.
The Portrait of a Man, attributed to the Workshop of Quinten Massys and dated to 1512, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work is executed in oil paint on a panel measuring 39.7 cm in height and 28.6 cm in width. It entered the museum's holdings through the bequest of Michael Friedsam.
The provided sources do not contain specific details regarding the painting's accession number or a chronological record of its exhibition history prior to its current residence at the museum.
Overview
This oil painting, titled Portrait of a Man, presents a distinguished male figure in elaborate attire. He is depicted against a somber, unadorned background, which serves to direct the viewer's attention entirely to the subject. The man's rich clothing and the small, symbolic object he holds suggest a person of notable status, captured with a focus on his individual presence.
Artist & collection
Portrait of a man
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of Jean d'Albon, seigneur de Saint-André (1472–1549)
Joris Vezeleer
Portrait of a Young Man
Portrait of Henry III, Count of Nassau
Portrait of a young man holding gloves
Albrecht the Bold, son of Friedrich II., died 1500
Jean d'Albon de Saint-André (1472–1549)
Portrait of a Young Gentleman
Männliches Bildnis- Portrait of a man
