Portrait of a Man
Datec. 1740s
CultureFrench
MediumOil on canvas
ClassificationPaintings
ProvenanceAuguste Boutin; (sold Boutin sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 27 May 1902, lot 37, for 3,600 francs). (By 1904, Edward Brandus, New York); Chester Dale (1883–1962), New York; gift to Louise Marock (1901–1985), New York and Palm Beach, Florida; gift to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, 1965.
Credit LineGift of Miss Louise Marock, 1965
Object numberSN786
Wearing an armor breastplate and touching the hilt of his sword, the sitter’s image is one of martial prowess. His costume otherwise shows him to be a gentleman of high fashion by the standards of the 1740s. A small white cross set within a larger red cross is suspended from a red ribbon around his neck. This is a cross of the Order of Christ, a Portuguese military order awarded only to members of Portuguese aristocracy and royal family. It is our only clue as to the sitter’s identity.
On View
On viewLocation
- Museum of Art, Gallery 15, Wall North
Collections
Frame: 67 × 54 1/2 × 5 1/4 in. (170.2 × 138.4 × 13.3 cm)
first quarter of the 1700s
