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Portrait of a Musician
Portrait of a Musician
Portrait of a Musician

Portrait of a Musician

Artist (Italian (Venetian School), active 1511 - 1549)
Dateca. 1515
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsPainting: 27 1/4 x 21 3/8 in. (69.2 x 54.3 cm)
Frame: 36 1/2 x 30 7/8 in. (92.7 x 78.4 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Object number61.189
Commentary

The portraits and altarpieces of Bernardino Licinio are filled with the warm, diffused light and rich color which characterize the art of Renaissance Venice. A student of Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1430 - ca. 1516), Licinio painted gentle, lyrical imagery and his portraits include a number of large family groups.

            

Portrait of a Musician is reflective of the new humanism in Renaissance portraiture which often presented individuals without religious or specific historical reference. In this half-length example, the fact that the sitter was a musician is confirmed by the painter's careful attention to the violoncello.  The figure is brought directly forward to the viewer, while the curved lines of the musical instrument's neck, the sitter's clasped hand and tilted head ingeniously combine to produce a harmonious whole.              

ProvenancePrince Barberini Collection, Rome; Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi (1878-1955), Rome-Florence, March 4, 1932; Samuel H. Kress (1863-1955), New York, New York,1939; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1952 [deaccessioned]; Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York, New York, 1961
On View
Not on view