Getty Museum

Portrait of a Bearded Man

Date

about 1550

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

Italian

Department

Paintings

Institution

Getty Museum

Better known for his landscapes and religious scenes, here Bassano paints a portrait of a sitter whose identity is not known. A melancholy, middle-aged man with a florid complexion, a long beard, and large, watery eyes looks to one side, his gaze attentive and seemingly intrigued. Diffused light gracefully illuminates the sitter’s distinctive features, while his delicate pink flesh tones are offset against the minimalist green background. His head inclines to the right as though he is listening to or observing someone outside the picture frame, his mouth partly open, as if ready to speak. The unknown man's slightly protuberant eyes communicate an emotional state that provokes a sympathetic response from the viewer. Jacopo Bassano emphasized the man's strong, physical presence by the darkened shadow cast against the wall on the left. Bassano’s biographer, Carlo Ridolfi, wrote of the artist’s ability in the genre of portraiture, though relatively few of his portraits have survived. Ridolfi wrote that Bassano was “valued for his portraits”, which were “naturalistically rendered” thanks to the artist’s abilities when working from life.

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