Portrait of a Man (1537)
Original title: Portrait of a Man
kurzbeschreibung
In 1537 Lucas Cranach the Elder painted the portrait of an unknown gentleman. The sitter wears dark clothing and holds an orange between his hands. The work is executed in oil on alder wood and measures 55.9 x 42.5 cm.
Description
A black cap and a dark robe define the man's appearance; on the garment a collar with red patterning stands out in contrasting colour. Both hands clasp an orange. A green curtain pushes in front of the figure, granting only a partial view, and behind it lie mountains and a village. Light falls on the face and the fruit, bringing both forward.
Context
The portrait was made in 1537 in the circle of Cranach's Wittenberg workshop; he served as court painter to the Saxon electors and was a friend of Martin Luther. Who the sitter was has not come down to us, which happens fairly often with middle-class portraits of those years. The orange can be read as a sign of prosperity or of trading connections to distant places, since citrus fruit was rare and expensive in sixteenth-century Central Europe.
Impact
Calm and strongly axial, the layout gives the portrait presence and dignity, while the colours stay muted and true to life. As a bright accent the orange draws the eye to the hands and brings a quiet hint of wealth and transience into the picture.
Technique
The painting is done in oil on alder wood, a support Cranach used often. Care in the details, such as the pattern of the collar, and a lifelike handling of light attest to the precise manner of painting of the Renaissance.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)