Portrait of a Man

Expand

IIIFView PDF

Portrait of a Man

Artist Hans Müelich (German, 1516-1573)

Place of OriginGermany

Date1540

DimensionsH: 29 1/2 in. (74.9 cm); W: 23 5/8 in. (60 cm)

MediumOil on wood panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1955.226

Not on View

Label TextStaring confidently out at the viewer, this unidentified man seems to radiate quiet authority. Bavarian court artist Hans Muelich depicts the man in velvet robes that fill the composition, making his physical presence as impressive as his psychological presence. He holds a small book in his left hand, perhaps a clue to his profession, and rests his right hand on a piece of paper that records in Latin his age at the time of the portrait: 40 years. Like the portrait of the man’s wife (to the right), this painting features a landscape seen through a window. A cathedral dominates the scene, perhaps suggesting an association with the Church. Though we do not know the man’s family name, the artist may have given us a clue to his first name. A tiny scene plays out in the foreground of the landscape: the biblical story of the stoning of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Saint Stephen may be the man’s name saint.Published References"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, January-March, 1960," The Art Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 2, Summer 1960, repr. 187.

Löcher, K., "Studien zur oberdeutschen Bildnis-Malerei des 16. Jahrhunderts," Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstammlungen in Baden-Württemberg, IV, 1967, pp. 72-74, 84, nn. 155-156, figs. 48, 49.

"Painting in Northern Europe 1450-1550," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 13, no. 2, Summer 1970, pp. 42-43, repr. p. 42.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 115-116, pl. 68, col. pl. III.

Hand John Oliver, German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1993, pp. 149, 150, fig. 3.

Löcher, Kurt, Hans Mielich (1516-1573): Bildnismaler in München, München, Deutscher, Kunstverlag, 2002, pp. 41-43, 48, 59, 208-209, Abb. 8 (col.) p. 120, Abb. 10 (det.) p. 122.