11Story

22 January 2010

A bearded man

 

Portrait of a bearded man with hour-glass and armillary sphere. Francesco da Ponte [Francesco Bassano] (1549-1592). Probably Venice, circa 1580 Photograph. Original oil on canvas. 106.3 x 89.8 cm © Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Inv.-Nr. GG 5775

The following is taken from the English part of the label accompanying the original displayed in Vienna (emphasis added): ‘The subject of this handsome portrait is an unknown, richly dressed nobleman in the intimate atmosphere of his study. The hourglass, the letter and the armillary sphere are references to the personality and interests of the subject. In this painting Francesco Bassano demonstrates his gift for description and his remarkable painting technique, especially in the depiction of the flesh tones and the details of the fur trim and the white collar, which is executed with soft brushstrokes.’   No claim is made in the above label that the painting provides insight into the subject’s mind (compare Van Dyck’s Portrait of Jacomo de Cachiopin, painted half a century later, in the ‘Mind’ section of the exhibition). Instead, Bassano is praised for his descriptive skills. The hourglass, letter and armillary sphere may refer to the subject’s interests but (even if they were shown more prominently or painted in more detail) hardly to his ‘personality’. Or is the real difference that this is a ‘pseudo-portrait’? So long as the painting’s subject is unknown, there is nothing outside the picture itself to help convey his character. Bassano and Van Dyck may each have painted simply that aspect of their subjects’ appearance that interested them. Does Cachiopin have more personality than Bassano’s nobleman because we know his name?

 
 
 

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