Portrait of a Gentleman
Shown from the thighs up against a dark background, a man with light skin, wearing a black satin jerkin with puffed breeches, stands with his hand on the neck of a dog by his side in this vertical portrait painting. The man stands with his body angled to our right but looks at us from the corners of his dark eyes. His brows are subtly raised, and his cheeks are slightly sunken under high cheekbones. His red hair is cut short, and his red mustache and beard are trimmed. The high collar of his black jacket is lined with a white ruffle along his chin line. Light from our left glints off the long sleeves of his tight-fitting jacket, creating the impression that it is made of heavy silk. Two thick gold chains hang down his chest, and a sword hangs from a belt around his waist, the hilt on the hip farther from us. His pants puff out and gather on the mid-thigh over stockings. He hooks the thumb of his right hand, on our left, around his hip and he rests his other hand on the neck of the dog standing by his left side, to our right. The dark brown dog has a white stripe down its nose. It faces our left in profile but its brown eyes look toward us. On the collar, ornate metal bosses alternate with low spikes, set in a wide black band. A ring hangs from the front of the collar. Barely legible, the painting is signed and dated in the upper left corner with dark paint: “Antonius mor pingebat a. 1569.”
Details
- Palette
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- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- overall: 119.7 x 88.3 cm (47 1/8 x 34 3/4 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
7 tags
Subject Matter
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Individual Portrait Both · 99%
The catalog identifies the work as a portrait, and the image centers on one male sitter presented from the thighs upward.
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Animals Both · 98%
A large dog is clearly visible beside the sitter as a distinct secondary subject, with identifiable facial features, a white facial stripe, and an ornate collar.
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Eye Contact Both · 96%
The sitter looks toward the viewer, and the dog’s eyes also turn toward the viewer despite its profile pose.
Visual Qualities
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Dark Colors Visual · 98%
Black and very dark brown clothing and a dark background dominate the palette, with brighter accents in the face, ruff, chains, sword fittings, and dog’s markings.
Medium and Techniques
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Oil Painting Both · 99%
The catalog specifies oil on canvas, and the image visibly presents a painted canvas surface with modeled flesh, fabric, metal, and fur.
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Chiaroscuro Visual · 94%
Selective illumination models the sitter’s face, sleeves, ruff, jewelry, and the dog against a much darker ground, producing pronounced light-dark contrast.
Time Periods
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16th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the work to 1569, placing it in the sixteenth century.
Source & rights
Antonis Mor. Portrait of a Gentleman. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.