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Shown from the waist up, a cleanshaven man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a black cap and a voluminous fur-lined, black cloak, is positioned behind a crimson-red ledge or tabletop in this vertical portrait painting. His head and torso nearly fills the composition. His body is angled to our left, and he looks off in that direction with dark brown eyes under faint eyebrows. His high cheeks are lightly flushed, and he has a pointed nose and a hint of a five o-clock shadow. His soft black cap has flaps that cover his ears. The wide, fur lapels of his black cloak nearly reach his shoulders. The sleeves of the garment beneath has a tan and black checked pattern, and a white undershirt peeks out at his neck and cuffs. A cross hanging from a heavy gold chain has black pearls in the cross of each arm and a teardrop-shaped black pearl hangs from the bottom. The cross has a hand on each short arm, two feet on the long leg, and a red circle at the center. The sitter’s left hand, on our right, rests on the red ledge holding a pair of gloves that are ivory white around the wrist and charcoal gray at the fingers. His right hand, father from us, rests in a loose fist near his other wrist. A folded piece of white paper with black writing lies to our left of the hands. It reads, “NVNQVID NON PAVCITAS DIERVM MEORVM FINIETVR BREVIS.” The background behind the man is mottled with rust brown and steel gray. Gold writing spans the background to either side of the man’s head, reading, “BRIANVS TVKS, MILES, ANO ETATIS EVAE LVII” along the top and “DROIT ET AVANT” below.

Sir Brian Tuke

Hans Holbein the Younger

Shown from the waist up, a cleanshaven man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a black cap and a voluminous fur-lined, black cloak, is positioned behind a crimson-red ledge or tabletop in this vertical portrait painting. His head and torso nearly fills the composition. His body is angled to our left, and he looks off in that direction with dark brown eyes under faint eyebrows. His high cheeks are lightly flushed, and he has a pointed nose and a hint of a five o-clock shadow. His soft black cap has flaps that cover his ears. The wide, fur lapels of his black cloak nearly reach his shoulders. The sleeves of the garment beneath has a tan and black checked pattern, and a white undershirt peeks out at his neck and cuffs. A cross hanging from a heavy gold chain has black pearls in the cross of each arm and a teardrop-shaped black pearl hangs from the bottom. The cross has a hand on each short arm, two feet on the long leg, and a red circle at the center. The sitter’s left hand, on our right, rests on the red ledge holding a pair of gloves that are ivory white around the wrist and charcoal gray at the fingers. His right hand, father from us, rests in a loose fist near his other wrist. A folded piece of white paper with black writing lies to our left of the hands. It reads, “NVNQVID NON PAVCITAS DIERVM MEORVM FINIETVR BREVIS.” The background behind the man is mottled with rust brown and steel gray. Gold writing spans the background to either side of the man’s head, reading, “BRIANVS TVKS, MILES, ANO ETATIS EVAE LVII” along the top and “DROIT ET AVANT” below.

Details
Palette

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Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
overall: 49.1 x 38.5 cm (19 5/16 x 15 3/16 in.) framed: 67 x 57.5 x 7.6 cm (26 3/8 x 22 5/8 x 3 in.)
Department
CNE-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

9 tags

Subject Matter

  • Individual Portrait Both · 99%

    The title identifies the sitter as Sir Brian Tuke, and the image presents one named male sitter in a formal likeness.

  • Text Visual · 99%

    Gold inscriptions span the background, and a folded sheet with written text appears in the lower foreground.

Visual Qualities

  • Dark Colors Visual · 95%

    The composition is dominated by black, dark brown, and muted gray, with restrained accents of gold, red, and flesh tones.

  • Highly Detailed Visual · 95%

    Facial features, patterned sleeves, fur trim, chain, pendant, gloves, paper, and inscriptions are rendered with sustained surface detail.

  • Patterns Visual · 93%

    The sitter’s sleeves and cuffs display a repeated tan-and-black checked pattern that forms a prominent visual rhythm in the lower half of the portrait.

Medium and Techniques

  • Painting Metadata · 99%

    The National Gallery of Art classifies the work as a painting and records the medium as oil on panel.

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The supplied medium is explicitly recorded as oil.

  • Oil on Panel Metadata · 99%

    The museum record explicitly identifies a panel support for the oil painting.

Time Periods

  • 16th Century Art Metadata · 98%

    The work is dated approximately c. 1527/1528 or c. 1532/1534, placing it in the sixteenth century.

Source & rights

Hans Holbein the Younger. Sir Brian Tuke. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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