The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 20, 2024
Portrait of a Man
c. 1620
(Italian, c1575/80–1635)
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.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1985.143
Location: 210A Armor Court
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.- Until 11 January 1984Antoine Pereira, GenevaJanuary 11, 1984(acquired by Matthiesen Fine Art, London [stock nr. 8260], in partnership with Giorgio Balboni and one other)1985(Matthiesen Fine Art, London, by whom sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1985-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OhioProvenance Footnotes1 The Pereira provenance was provided to Matthiesen by the Paris-based dealer Giorgio Balboni, but has not been verified.2 The painting was first published in the 1985 Matthiesen exhibition catalogue, Around 1610: The Onset of the Baroque (no. 32).
- Townsend, Richard P., in Marco Bona Castellotti et al.,Tanzio da Varallo: realismo, fervore e contemplazione in un pittore del Seicento. Exh. cat. Milan, Palazzo Reale; published by Milan: F. Motta, 2000.Patrick Matthiesen, letter to Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, Aug. 12, 1985, in CMA curatorial file.Patrick Matthiesen, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Jan. 15, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.Patrick Matthiesen, email to Betsy Wieseman, Feb. 1, 2019, in CMA curatorial file.Patrick Matthiesen, email to Betsy Wieseman, Feb. 1, 2019, in CMA curatorial file.Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd. Around 1610: The Onset of the Baroque : an Exhibition in Aid of R.E.S.T., the Relief Society of Tigray, 14th June to 16th August 1985. London: Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd. (in association with Stair Sainty Matthiesen, New York), 1985.Patrick Matthiesen, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Jan. 15, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd. Around 1610: The Onset of the Baroque: an Exhibition in Aid of R.E.S.T., the Relief Society of Tigray, 14th June to 16th August 1985. London: Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd. in association with Stair Sainty Matthiesen, New York, 1985. Mentioned: pp.111-112; reproduced: p. 113, no. 32Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 234Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: p. 114Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 132Townsend, Richard P., in Marco Bona Castellotti et al.,Tanzio da Varallo: realismo, fervore e contemplazione in un pittore del Seicento. Exh. cat. Milan, Palazzo Reale; published by Milan: F. Motta, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 124-125; reproduced p. 126, no. 26
- Tanzio da Varallo. Realismo fervore e contemplazione in un pittore del Seicento. Palazzo Reale, Milano, Italy (April 13-July 16, 2000).Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd., London. Around 1610: The Onset of the Baroque: an Exhibition in Aid of R.E.S.T., the Relief Society of Tigray, 14th June to 16th August 1985, no. 32, ill.CMA, 1986: Year in Review 1985, no. 48.
- {{cite web|title=Portrait of a Man|url=false|author=Tanzio da Varallo|year=c. 1620|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.143