Portrait of a gentleman in a fur

This portrait shows a man seen to the knees, dressed in a black cloak lined with ermine, whose animal fur fills a large part of the composition. A shadowy space surrounds him, hinted at by a wall, a fluted column and a window, which keeps the attention fixed on the figure. The sitter looks intently at the viewer. He has a long beard and short, greying hair, holds a white handkerchief in his left hand, and with his right grips the ermine lining of the cloak.

The work is usually dated to around 1550-1560, although its exact date of completion is not known for certain. For a time it was suggested that the sitter might be Daniele Barbaro, but that identification looks unlikely when the painting is compared with a confirmed portrait of Barbaro in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Today the sitter remains unidentified.

The influence of Titian is evident in the gravity of the portrait and in the way the figure is placed, yet Veronese already seeks a personal style, focused on the individuality of the subject. His greatest technical achievement lies in the meticulous, realistic rendering of the fur, whose volume, texture and sheen are described with precision.

Another version, dated to about 1555 and slightly smaller, is held in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. An engraver of uncertain identity, known as T. Vercruyse or T. Ver. Cruyse dal Paradis, also produced engraved copies of the composition, a sign of the interest the image attracted. The painting shows the balance between restraint and material richness that marks much portraiture of the period.

Painter

Paolo Veronese

Date

1558

Medium

oil paint

Dimensions

140 × 107 cm

Museum

Galleria Palatina, Florence

Movement

Mannerism

Genre

portrait

Depicts

Daniele Barbaro

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