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Portrait of a Man, possibly Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Gozzadini by http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/a92a0d03c04a9cbe9dc387df838048d6

http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/a92a0d03c04a9cbe9dc387df838048d6 · 1494-01-01

This is "Portrait of a Man, possibly Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Gozzadini," painted around 1494 by an unknown artist of the Bolognese school, and now in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It looks at first like a simple profile portrait, the kind Italian nobles commissioned to fix their likeness for posterity. But the painting keeps its biggest secret off his face entirely.

Start with him: the sharp aristocratic profile, the brilliant vermillion hat, and the one visible eye that does all the work in a profile portrait. Then pull back and let your eye follow the landscape behind him. A winding road. A pale sky. A rider on horseback, paused in the middle distance, so small you could scroll past him in a second.

Now look at the right edge. That carved stone pilaster is not just architecture. Embedded in it are a heraldic shield and a faint inscription tablet. The coat of arms belongs to a Bolognese family. The Latin lettering names the likely sitter: Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Gozzadini. In 1494, Bologna was a city of rival noble houses, and a portrait like this was a political act. The landscape may even represent the territory his family controlled.

He had himself painted not just as a face, but as a name, a lineage, and a view. What would you want the world to find on your column, five centuries from now?

Details

He wears the profile of a man who expects to be remembered.
He wears the profile of a man who expects to be remembered.
A red hat, a dark tunic, a calm eye. The 1490s, in tempera.
A red hat, a dark tunic, a calm eye. The 1490s, in tempera.
But the real proof of who he was is much closer, on the column at the right edge.
But the real proof of who he was is much closer, on the column at the right edge.
Carved into the stone: a family coat of arms, still legible after five centuries.
Carved into the stone: a family coat of arms, still legible after five centuries.
And above it, faint Latin letters. They name Matteo di Sebastiano Gozzadini.
And above it, faint Latin letters. They name Matteo di Sebastiano Gozzadini.
Transcript

He wears the profile of a man who expects to be remembered. A red hat, a dark tunic, a calm eye. The 1490s, in tempera. Behind him, the world he belongs to: a distant city, a road, a lone rider. But the real proof of who he was is much closer, on the column at the right edge. Carved into the stone: a family coat of arms, still legible after five centuries. And above it, faint Latin letters. They name Matteo di Sebastiano Gozzadini.