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Portrait of a Dwarf by http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/f7407eefc540ed66822d1add74f1967b

http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/f7407eefc540ed66822d1add74f1967b · 1600-01-01

This is "Portrait of a Dwarf," painted around 1600 by an unknown Flemish artist.

The painting does something rare for its time. It meets a court dwarf, historically collected and treated as less than human, with the same chiaroscuro gravitas and compositional weight given to a prince. His eyes hold the viewer. His hand rests on a staff of office. The object in his other hand may be a glove, a mark of gentlemanly rank. Nothing in the frame is played for comedy. The deep shadow cuts away everything except his presence.

For much of its life, the painting moved through private collections without fanfare. An early estate inventory appraised it at just two pounds. It resurfaced at Christie’s in New York in 2010, catalogued as an Old Master portrait. Bidding outstripped the estimate many times over. The final price, with buyer’s premium, came to $273,600.

The money isn't the point. The auction was a public correction of value. A market, at last, saw the person the painter saw.

What do you notice first when you meet his eyes?

Details

He meets your eye without a flicker.
He meets your eye without a flicker.
But this man is rendered with unblinking dignity.
But this man is rendered with unblinking dignity.
An early owner’s will valued the painting at two pounds.
An early owner’s will valued the painting at two pounds.
In 2010, it came to auction at Christie’s.
In 2010, it came to auction at Christie’s.
Fashionable headgear signals courtly status rather than marginalization; a marker of social positioning worth examining
Fashionable headgear signals courtly status rather than marginalization; a marker of social positioning worth examining
Transcript

For centuries, this sitter was seen as a curiosity. He meets your eye without a flicker. Court dwarfs were often collected as property. But this man is rendered with unblinking dignity. An early owner’s will valued the painting at two pounds. In 2010, it came to auction at Christie’s. The hammer fell at two hundred seventy-three thousand dollars.