Although damaged and suffering losses (especially in the hair and collar), this depiction of a formidable sitter is an example of the Venetian adaptation of Flemish portraiture that came to be the norm in Italy by the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The sitter, posed in three-quarters profile, turns his head to meet the viewer’s eyes. He is placed before a distant landscape with towers, animated figures, and a bright sky in conspicuous contrast with his dark hair and hat; all of these serve to accentuate his distinguished presence.
In the nineteenth century, this panel was variously attributed to two other Venetian artists: Giovanni Bellini and one of his students, Rocco Marconi. Portraits by Carpaccio are fairly rare, which—along with the painting’s abraded condition—may bring this attribution into question.
Details
- Artist Name: Attributed to Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, 1455-1526)
- Title: Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman
- Date: c.1510
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Dimensions: 14 x 10-3/4 in. (35.6 x 27.3 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1965.1.012.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., London (sale, London, Christie’s, 23-26 June 1875, lot 667).
William Graham (1817-1885), London (sale, London, Christie’s, 10 April 1886, lot 449, as Bellini, to);
John P. Carrington, London, by 1901.
?[Martin Colnaghi, London].
[R. Langton Douglas, London, sold 22 August 1916 to];
[Knoedler Galleries, London, stock no. 6109, as Rocco Marconi, A Venetian Nobleman, shipped to];
[Knoedler Galleries, New York, stock no. 13930, as Rocco Marconi, Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman, sold 14 March 1921 to];
Mortimer L. Schiff, New York, by inheritance to;
John Mortimer Schiff, New York (sale, London, Christie’s, 24 June 1938, lot 75, as Giovanni Bellini, to);
[Duveen Bros., New York, stock no. 30101, sold 1965 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters
- London, Royal Academy, 1875 to
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and Deceased Masters of the British School
- London, Royal Academy, 1910-01-03 to 1910-03-12
On Loan to London, National Gallery
- The National Gallery, London, 1910 to 1913
Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Old Masters
- San Francisco Museum of Art, 1920 to
Four Centuries of Venetian Painting
- Toledo Museum of Art, 1940-03 to
Loan Exhibition in Honour of Royal Cortissoz and His 50 Years of Criticism in New York Herald Tribune
- New York, M. Knoedler & Co., 1941-12-01 to 1941-12-20
A Small Exhibition of European Paintings of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries
- Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1942-03-20 to 1942-04-20
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969-07-18 to 1972-08-23
[on loan]
- New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1965-12-30 to
[on loan]
- Detroit Institute of Arts, 1974-06-12 to 1975-10
A Loan Exhibition of Fashion Headdress 1450-1943, for the Benefit of New York Infirmary for Women and Children
- Wildenstein & Co. (New York, N.Y.), 1943-04-27 to 1943-05-27
Exhibition of Venetian Art
- London, New Gallery, 1894 to 1895
[on loan]
- Minneapolis, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1968-04-01 to 1968-10-31
Six Centuries of Portraiture from the Permanent Collection
- Norton Simon Museum, 1989-11-02 to 1990-12-16
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Norton Simon's Purchase of Duveen Brothers Gallery
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-10-24 to 2015-02-16
- Ffoulkes, C. J., L'Arte, fig. 5 pp. 304-305
- Comstock, Helen, The Connoisseur, p. 143-144
- Sutton, Denys, Apollo, no. 7, fig. 11 pp. 432, 438
- Berenson, Bernard, The Study of Criticism of Italian Art, 1901, pp. 126-127
- Reinach, Salomon, Répertoire de peintures du moyen age et de la Renaissance (1280-1580), 1905, p. 131
- Berenson, Bernard, Venetian Painters of the Renaissance, 1909, p. 127
- Graves, Algernon, A Century of Loan Exhibitions, 1914, pp. 54-55
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 28
- Pagnotta, L., Bartolomeo Veneto: L'opera completa, 1997, fig. A.65 pp. 322-323
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D10 p. 441
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