Portrait of a Young Man
Antonello da Messina (attributed)
Shown from the chest up, a clean shaven, young man with pale, rosy skin and curly, mahogany-red hair, looks at or toward us against a black background in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our left, and he turns his face slightly to look our way with sienna-brown eyes under curved eyebrows. He has a long, prominent nose and small thin pink lips. His shoulder length hair curls tightly around his face and covers his ears. He wears a tomato-red shirt with a high collar trimmed with white.
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Dimensions
- overall: 33 x 24.8 cm (13 x 9 3/4 in.) framed: 62.2 x 56.2 x 14 cm (24 1/2 x 22 1/8 x 5 1/2 in.)
- Department
- CIS-R
- Holding institution
- National Gallery of Art
- Image provider
- national-gallery-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Art Genome Taxonomy
8 tags
Subject Matter
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Individual Portrait Both · 100%
The museum title and metadata identify the work as a portrait of a young man, and the image clearly shows a single male sitter presented from the chest up.
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Face Visual · 99%
The sitter’s face occupies most of the composition and is rendered with close attention to the eyes, brows, nose, lips, skin, and hair.
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Eye Contact Visual · 88%
The sitter’s eyes are directed toward or very near the viewer, producing a direct visual encounter.
Visual Qualities
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Dark Colors Visual · 97%
The image is dominated by a near-black background, dark mahogany hair, and deep red clothing surrounding the illuminated face.
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Highly Detailed Visual · 94%
Fine detail is visible in the tightly curled hair, facial features, eyes, garment trim, and subtle transitions of the skin.
Medium and Techniques
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Painting Metadata · 100%
The museum classifies the object as a painting.
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Oil on Panel Metadata · 96%
The listed medium is tempera and oil on a poplar panel, directly supporting the panel and oil-painting technique category, while also indicating that the work is mixed-media rather than oil alone.
Time Periods
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15th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The museum date is given as c. 1475/1479, within the fifteenth century.
Source & rights
Attributed to Antonello da Messina. Portrait of a Young Man. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.