Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Shown from the hips up, a boy with pale, peachy skin and copper-brown hair stands in front of a rocky outcropping with a narrow view into a distant landscape to our left in this vertical portrait painting. His body faces our left almost in profile, and he turns his face to look at us with dark brown eyes under faint brows. He has a long, straight nose, a pointed chin, flushed cheeks, and his full, rose-pink lips are slightly parted. His dark hair falls in waves to the wide, flat, white collar at his neck. He wears a golden yellow doublet brocaded with shimmering threads, possibly silver and gold. The sleeves split along the inner arm to reveal a white shirt with voluminous, puffy sleeves that end with wide, transparent cuffs like floppy saucers around each wrist. Over the jacket, he wears a gleaming, pewter-colored breastplate with a topaz-blue sash crossing his chest. His peanut-brown pants are also sewn or woven with metallic thread in stripes down the side of the leg. The boy rests his right hand, farther from us, on a staff or walking stick propped in front of him. His other hand rests around the gold hilt of a rapier, a thin sword at his left hip, closer to us. Behind the boy, the view is almost entirely taken up with a slate-gray boulder, or it could be the entrance of a cave. A view onto the landscape along the left edge of the composition has a few treetops beneath pale yellow clouds against an ice-blue sky.
Details
- Palette
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- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- overall: 104.8 x 87 cm (41 1/4 x 34 1/4 in.) framed: 128.91 x 111.13 x 11.43 cm (50 3/4 x 43 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
- Department
- CNE-B
- 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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Royalty and Aristocracy Metadata · 99%
The National Gallery of Art identifies the sitter in the title as Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and the image presents a formally dressed aristocratic figure.
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Individual Portrait Both · 99%
The work is cataloged as a portrait of Henry, Duke of Gloucester and visibly centers one identifiable sitter shown approximately from the hips upward.
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War and Military Both · 87%
The sitter wears a visible breastplate and carries a rapier; these military elements are prominent components of the depicted costume.
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Landscapes Both · 86%
A narrow view of sky, clouds, treetops, and distant terrain appears along the left side of the portrait, contrasting with the rocky background behind the sitter.
Visual Qualities
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Dark Colors Visual · 94%
Deep brown, slate-gray, black, and muted gold tones dominate the composition, with lighter highlights concentrated on the face, shirt, armor, and garments.
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Highly Detailed Visual · 88%
The image visibly emphasizes finely rendered costume details, including repeated shimmering lines in the gold fabric, reflective armor, and carefully modeled hair and facial features.
Medium and Techniques
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Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The catalog specifies oil on canvas.
Time Periods
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17th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the painting to circa 1653, placing it in the seventeenth century.
Source & rights
Adriaen Hanneman. Henry, Duke of Gloucester. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.