Artwork Page for Portrait of a Man

Details / Information for Portrait of a Man

Portrait of a Man

c. 1620

Tanzio da Varallo

(Italian, c. 1575/80–1635)
Culture
Italy, 17th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 125 x 99.5 x 7 cm (49 3/16 x 39 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 97.8 x 72.2 cm (38 1/2 x 28 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1985.143
Public Domain
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Location
210A Armor Court
Print
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Did You Know?

Dashing accessories enliven this portrait, including a rapier with an elegantly spiraling guard, produced exclusively in North Italy between 1570 and 1600.

Description

This portrait of an unknown man includes a detailed representation of a rapier, a sword worn with civilian dress and used in duels. On the basis of style, the rapier in this painting belonged to a distinctive group of sword hilts decorated between about 1570 and 1600. It was probably made in northern Italy.The son of a Piedmontese architect, Tanzio spent most of his life in northern Italy, but worked briefly in Rome and southern Italy, mainly Naples. These trips brought him under the influence of Caravaggio, whose dramatic realism Tanzio integrated into his own elegant, decorative style.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a man with light skin tone, dark hair, mustache and goatee. Turned slightly to our right against a dark background, he wears a dark jacket with a white lace collar and a red sash across his chest. His right hand holds a tall wooden staff, while his left rests near a gold sword hilt and a red feathered hat. Matching lace cuffs and a gold belt finish the look.

Portrait of a Man

c. 1620

Tanzio da Varallo

(Italian, c. 1575/80–1635)
Italy, 17th century

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