Portrait of a Young Merchant

Last updated

Portrait of a Young Merchant
Hans Holbein d. J., , Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemaldegalerie - Bildnis eines jungen Kaufmannes - GG 905 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg
Artist Hans Holbein the Younger [1]
Year1541 [1]
Medium oil and tempera on oak [1] [2]
Dimensions46.5 cm× 34.8 cm(18.3 in× 13.7 in) [1]
Location Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
Accession905 [1]
Website www.khm.at/en/

Portrait of a Young Merchant is an oil on oak painting completed in 1541 by German painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, now in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. It depicts an unidentified young man against a blue-grey background. [1] [2]

Contents

Description

One of the finest portraits of Holbein's later years, it is one of his customary half-length figures, less than life-size, seated at a table, the body turned to the right, and the face looking out at the spectator. His doublet is of brown silk, and over it he wears a black cloak with a deep collar and lining of brown fur, and black cap with a brim. [3] The collar of his white shirt is embroidered with blackwork and tied with black laces. He is holding grey gloves in his left hand, and his right rests on the green cloth on the table, the forefinger thrust within the pages of a gilt-edged book, near which is placed an inkstand with a red cord. On a ring on his left index finger, is an intaglio. [3] His face is clean-shaven, with a ruddy brown complexion, and the hair, which does not cover the ears, is almost concealed by the cap. The young man has pleasant features and his grey-blue eyes "have a far-seeing, visionary expression, which Holbein has rendered with extraordinary vividness and subtlety of drawing." [3] His direct gaze is reminiscent of that of Derek Born (1533). [4] The upper part of the background consists of a blue-grey wall, with wooden panelling, below, and there is an inscription in gold at head height — ANNO·DÑI·1541· // · ETATIS · SVÆ · 28 · — the year: 1541 and sitter's age: 28. [1] [3]

Paul Ganz assumed that he was a German merchant, probably a member of the Steelyard in London, but this is not necessarily the case. [5] John Rowlands and others note that he could equally be English. [3] [6] There is no coat of arms or a merchant's mark to suggest his identity.

In this painting Holbein repeats motifs from his earlier works, for example, Thomas Cromwell (1532–33): the wood panelling in the background, the book and the table covered with a green cloth. The sitter's right hand is remarkably similar to that of Hermann von Wedigh (1532), as are the curiously pointed ear, the ring and gloves of an Unknown Gentleman (c. 1540) [7] [8]

Portrait of a Man, 16th century, after Hans Holbein the Younger, Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, Palermo Portrait of a Man, after Hans Holbein the Younger - Palermo.png
Portrait of a Man, 16th century, after Hans Holbein the Younger, Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, Palermo

Versions

There is an old copy of this portrait in the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia in Palermo. [9]

Elements of the Vienna portrait have been copied by other artists. Portrait of an Unknown Man in the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is a pastiche: the copyist has attached the head of the portrait of Duke Antony the Good of Lorraine to the body of the Portrait of a Young Merchant in Vienna. In the copy of the head the cap is without the gold tags, the beard is slightly shorter, and the sitter appears to be somewhat younger. In that of the body the dress, hands, the rings, gloves, and book follow the Vienna picture closely, but the copyist has transferred the two rings on the little finger of the right hand to the ring-finger. [10]

Portrait of a Man, by Christoph Amberger, in the collection of Wawel Castle in Kraków, utilises borrowed motifs. The head of an unidentified elderly, bearded man is painted together with the body of the Vienna portrait. [11] The background has been changed and there is no green cloth on the table in the foreground.

Another example of the borrowed motif is Portrait of an Unknown Man, dated 1530, formerly in the collection of Leopold Hirsch, London (present whereabouts unknown). [6] The head of an unidentified young man is added to the body of the Vienna portrait, but the rings on the right hand are omitted. The painting has the inscription: ANNO DNI MDXXX ÆTATIS SVÆ 28.

Provenance

The portrait was in the collection of the Archduke Leopold William by 1659. [6] [7] The collection was bequeathed to his nephew Leopold I.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambrosius Holbein</span> Swiss painter

Ambrosius Holbein was a German and later a Swiss artist in painting, drawing, and printmaking. He was the elder brother, by about three years, of Hans Holbein the Younger, but he appears to have died in his mid-twenties, leaving behind only a small body of work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Holbein the Younger</span> 15th-century German artist and printmaker

Hans Holbein the Younger was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire, and Reformation propaganda, and he made a significant contribution to the history of book design. He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father Hans Holbein the Elder, an accomplished painter of the Late Gothic school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artists of the Tudor court</span> Painters and limners engaged by the Tudor dynasty between 1485 and 1603

The artists of the Tudor court are the painters and limners engaged by the monarchs of England's Tudor dynasty and their courtiers between 1485 and 1603, from the reign of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Pemberton Small</span> Subject of a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger

Jane Small (c. 1518–1602) was a daughter of Christopher Pemberton, a Northamptonshire gentleman. She is well known as the subject of a portrait miniature by the famous 16th-century German artist Hans Holbein the Younger, painted about 1540. Holbein was known as a painter of the English court where his paintings included those of King Henry VIII and several of his wives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Howard</span> Queen of England from 1540 to 1541

Catherine Howard, also spelt Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1541 as the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn, and the niece of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Thomas Howard was a prominent politician at Henry's court, and he secured her a place in the household of Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, where she caught the King's interest. She married him on 28 July 1540 at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, just 19 days after the annulment of his marriage to Anne. He was 49, and she was between 15 and 21 years old, though it is widely accepted that she was 17 at the time of her marriage to Henry VIII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barthel Bruyn the Elder</span> German painter

Bartholomäus Bruyn (1493–1555), usually called Barthel Bruyn or Barthel Bruyn the Elder, was a German Renaissance painter active in Cologne. He painted altarpieces and portraits, and was Cologne's foremost portrait painter of his day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulus Verschuur</span>

Paulus Verschuur, was a Dutch mayor of Rotterdam, known today for his portrait by Frans Hals.

<i>Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Portrait of a Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling is an oil-on-oak portrait completed in around 1526–1528 by German Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger. The painting shows a demurely dressed young woman sitting against a plain blue background and holding in her lap a squirrel on a chain eating a nut; a starling sits on a grape vine in the background with its beak pointing at her right ear. The grape, a Biblical motif, for Holbein was a symbol of abundance and wealth. The subject of this portrait is believed to be Anne Lovell, wife of Sir Francis Lovell (d. 1551), an Esquire of the Body to Henry VIII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Mornauer Portrait</span> German painter

The Master of the Mornauer Portrait was a 15th-century German portrait painter active in Bavaria or Tyrol about 1460–1488. His notname is based on the Portrait of Alexander Mornauer now in the National Gallery, London. He was previously identified with Michael Pacher or Jost Amman, both proposals now rejected. He has also been tentatively identified as Ulrich Füetrer, which remains a possibility.

<i>Theatrum Pictorium</i> Paintings catalog by David Teniers the Younger

Theatrum Pictorium, or Theatre of Painting, is a short-hand name of a book published in the 1660s by David Teniers the Younger for his employer, the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. It catalogs 243 Italian paintings in the Archduke's collection of over 1300 paintings. The paintings are reproduced by engravings made by various engravers after reduced-size copies (modelli) created by Teniers. David Teniers' brother Abraham Teniers was involved in organizing the publication of the work. A second edition with page numbers was published in 1673.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartolomeo della Nave</span> Venetian merchant and art collector

Bartolomeo della Nave was a Venetian merchant and art collector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwarzwald family</span> Polish noble family

The Schwarzwald family was a wealthy, patrician, merchant family living in the Hanseatic city of Danzig (Gdańsk) from the 15th to the 18th century. The family, which had its origins in the Black Forest in south-west Germany, can be traced back to Georg von Schwarzwald, who settled in Danzig in the early 1400s.

<i>Portrait of Benedetto Varchi</i> Painting by Titian

Portrait of Benedetto Varchi, also called Portrait of a Man, is an oil painting by Titian. It was painted in around 1540, and hangs today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

<i>Portrait of Fabrizio Salvaresio</i> Painting by Titian

Portrait of Fabrizio Salvaresio is an oil painting by Titian. It is signed and dated 1558, and hangs today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

<i>Portrait of a Lady, probably a Member of the Cromwell Family</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Portrait of a Lady, probably a Member of the Cromwell Family is an oil on panel portrait completed in around 1535–1540 by German painter and printmaker, Hans Holbein the Younger. The painting shows an elegantly but demurely dressed young woman sitting against a blue-grey background. The subject of this portrait is thought to be a member of the Cromwell family, perhaps Thomas Cromwell's daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Seymour, sister to Jane, third consort of Henry VIII.

<i>Portrait Miniature of Hans Schwarzwaldt</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Portrait Miniature of Hans Schwarzwaldt is a watercolour on vellum portrait completed in around 1535–1540 by German artist and printmaker, Hans Holbein the Younger. The painting shows a young man against a clear blue background. Only the head and shoulders are shown, turned three-quarters to the viewer's right, the eyes cast down. The light brown hair is close cropped, and the sitter is wearing a brown doublet, trimmed with black, with a small, open falling collar with white strings attached. There is no inscription. The subject of this portrait was identified as a Danzig merchant, Hans Schwarzwaldt (1513-1575), based on a very strong resemblance to another portrait made by Holbein in 1543, but his age does not match the inscription. It has been suggested that the young man might be Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, the son of Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex.

<i>Portrait of Johann von Schwarzwaldt</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Portrait of Johann von Schwarzwaldt is a tempera on parchment portrait completed in 1543 by German artist and printmaker, Hans Holbein the Younger. The painting shows a young man against a blue background, turned three-quarters to the viewer's right. The sitter is wearing a deep black velvet cap and a black silk gown, a shade lighter, with a finely embroidered white shirt showing at the neck and wrist. The eyes are lowered, half covered by the lids, the arms folded. He has two rings on his left hand and is holding leather gloves. There is a flanking inscription at head height —· ANNO · ETATIS // SVÆ · 24 · 1543· — indicating that he was born about 1519. The subject of this portrait was identified as a Danzig merchant, Hans (Johann) von Schwarzwald, but his age does not match the inscription. It has been suggested that the young man might be Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, the son of Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex.

<i>Portrait of Charles de Solier, Sieur de Morette</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Portrait of Charles de Solier, Sieur de Morette is an oil on oak painting completed in around 1534–1535 by German painter and printmaker, Hans Holbein the Younger, now at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. It depicts the French diplomat, Charles de Solier (1480–1552), Francis I's ambassador to England.

<i>Portrait of Hermann Hillebrandt de Wedigh</i> Painting by Hans Holbein the Younger

Portrait of Hermann Hillebrandt de Wedigh is an oil and tempera on oak painting completed in 1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. It depicts a member of the Wedigh family of Cologne thought to be a merchant of the Steelyard in London.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Portrait of a Young Merchant". Kunsthistorisches Museum. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 Strong 1980, p. 82.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Chamberlain 1913, pp.  202-203.
  4. Langdon & Malpas 1993, p. 48.
  5. Ganz 1956, p. 253.
  6. 1 2 3 Rowlands 1985, p. 147.
  7. 1 2 Petter-Wahnschaffe 2010, p. 111.
  8. Foister 2004, p. 254.
  9. Grohn 1960, pp. 10–12.
  10. Chamberlain 1913, pp.  206-207.
  11. Grohn 1960, pp. 11–12.

Sources

  • Chamberlain, Arthur Bensley (1913). Hans Holbein the Younger. Vol. 2. London: George Allen & Company. pp. 202–207. OCLC   519969.
  • Foister, Susan (2004). Holbein and England. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 254. ISBN   9780300102802.
  • Ganz, Paul (1956). The Paintings of Hans Holbein (1st complete ed.). London: Phaidon Press. OCLC   154173294.
  • Grohn, Hans Werner (1960). "Original und Nachschaffende Tätigkeit: Bemerkungen zu Holbeins Bildnis eines jungen Mannes von 1541 in der Gemäldegalerie des Wiener Kunsthistorischen Museums". Alte und Moderne Kunst. 5 (11/12): 9–13.(in German)
  • Langdon, Helen; Malpas, James (1993). Holbein. With notes by James Malpas (2nd ed.). London: Phaidon Press. ISBN   9780714828671.
  • Petter-Wahnschaffe, Katrin (2010). Hans Holbein und der Stalhof in London. Kunstwissenschaftliche Studien. Vol. 165. München: Deutscher Kunstverlag. pp. 110–111. ISBN   9783422069527.(in German)
  • Rowlands, John (1985). Holbein: The Paintings of Hans Holbein the Younger (Complete ed.). Oxford: Phaidon. p. 147. ISBN   9780714823584.
  • Strong, Roy (1980). Piper, David (ed.). Holbein: The Complete Paintings. London: Granada. ISBN   9780246112903.