Portrait of a Stout Man

Robert Campin, 1425

This small oil on panel shows a heavy-set man with a fleshy jaw, a double chin, creases beneath the eyes and a long, straight nose ending in a broad tip. It is attributed to Robert Campin and dated around 1425, during the early Netherlandish period. What stands out is that the portrait makes no attempt at flattery: the sitter appears as he likely looked, with a close, unsparing attention to his features that foreshadows the northern European interest in the individual. Yet it is not a caricature. The man seems alert, with intelligent, measured eyes, and the tight cropping against a pale background looks deliberate, perhaps meant to convey the force of his presence. A near-identical version survives in Berlin, and both panels are considered the work of the same hand, which has fuelled debate about their commission and history. The identification with Robert de Masmines, a Burgundian knight, was proposed by Georges Hulin de Loo, but it remains inconclusive and is not widely accepted.

Painter: Robert Campin
Date: 1425
Medium: oil paint, panel
Dimensions: 35 × 24 cm
Museum: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
Movement: Early Netherlandish painting
Genre: portrait
Depicts: Robert de Masmines

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More works by Robert Campin

**Nativity**1430Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon

**Triptych with the Entombment of Christ**1415Courtauld Institute of Art

**Marriage of the Virgin**1420Museo del Prado

**The Annunciation**1420Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

**The Bad Thief to the Left of Christ**1430Städel Museum

**Virgin in Glory surrounded by St. Peter and St. Augustine**1437Musée Granet

**Mass of St. Gregory**1440Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

**The Virgin and Child by a Fireplace (Right Wing of a Diptych)**1433Hermitage Museum

**Portrait of a Woman**1435National Gallery