Portrait of a Man (called Frans Floris)
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Half-length portrait on panel of a man, inscribed in a later hand as Frans Floris. The man faces towards the right in three-quarter profile. He wears a black hat and a brown gown with a fur collar over a green shirt. By his waist, he holds flowers, possibly pinks or carnations, in his right hand and holds his gown closed with his left hand. The background is bright green.
Close in style to the work of Maarten van Heemskerck and Joos van Cleeve, this portrait is thought to have been painted in the second quarter of the 16th century probably in Germany. These painters made many portraits of the merchants that were becoming increasingly rich through trade in luxury goods and textiles.
It was thought to show the celebrated painter Frans Floris (c. 1519-1570), one of the best known Antwerp painters of his time. However, the face does not look like known portraits of the artist and the clothes are too early for the portrait to be of Floris. The identifying inscription at the top of the painting is in a later hand. Alice de Rothschild acquired the painting in 1906 with the simple title of 'man with a carnation'. The painting was attributed by the dealer J & S Goldschmidt to the school of Holbein.
The man is wearing a fur trimmed gown suggesting he is a high-status merchant, as in Maarten van Heemskerck's 'Portrait of a Man' in the Rijksmuseum (1529). The portrait does not however have any of the innovations that van Heemskerck introduced in the Rijksmuseum piece. Rather it shows the man against a plain background, as was the prevailing convention. Joos van Cleve sometimes used a green background, for example in his portrait of Maximilian I in Vienna (1509-10).
The flowers held by the man, which appear to be pinks or carnations, may indicate that it was a marriage portrait or that it was originally paired with a portrait of his wife. Pinks were a sign of fidelity whilst carnations symbolised love and marriage. Joos van Cleve's portrait of the luxury goods merchant Joris Vezeleer and his wife of 1518 (National Gallery of Art, Washington) is similar in format to this portrait. In the pendant portrait, his wife holds a pink. Joos van Cleve also painted men holding pinks or carnations, for example at Josyln Art Museum and the portrait of Maximilian I, Vienna and Rijksmuseum.
Phillippa Plock, 2012
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
362 x 260
358 x 246 - sight
Signature & date
not signed or dated
Inscriptions
FRANSISCVS FLORIS PICTOR.
Inscription
upper left to upper right (in a later hand)
PICTOR
Inscription
on verso
Labels
5873 / 736112 / 946113
Label
on verso, square label
Language
Latin
Provenance
- Acquired from J &S Goldschmidt, Kaiserstrasse 15, Frankfurt, 27 June 1906 as man with carnation, school of Holbein for £450, by Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); accepted by The Treasury Solicitor in lieu of taxes on the Estate of Mr James de Rothschild in 1963; given to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1990.
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the National Trust for display at Waddesdon Manor, 1990
Bibliography
- Ellis Waterhouse, Anthony Blunt; Paintings: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre, The National Trust; 1967; pp.140-141, cat. no. 58, ill.; as Circle of Martin van Heemskerck, c. 1550
- J Q Van Regteren Altena, Review of The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. Ellis Waterhouse, Paintings., Oud Holland, 85, 1970, 59-61; p. 61; as South German, c. 1515
Related files
- http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/timage_f?object=46435&image=9655&c= [accessed 4 April 2011, comparable image by Joos van Cleve] http://joslyn.org/Collection/Search-Results.aspx?c=Cleve [accessed 4 April 2011, Joos van Cleve, 'Young Man with a Pink']
- http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/timage_f?object=46435&image=9655&c= [accessed 4 April 2011, comparable image by Joos van Cleve] http://joslyn.org/Collection/Search-Results.aspx?c=Cleve [accessed 4 April 2011, Joos van Cleve, 'Young Man with a Pink']
Subject person
- Frans Floris the elder, Previous identification
Person as Subject
Subjects
- Figures/Male
- Portraits/Male
- Work & Occupations/Arts & Entertainment/Painter
- Objects/Clothing & Personal Effects/Cloak or Cape
- Objects/Clothing & Personal Effects/Fur
- Nature, Landscape & The Elements/Flowers/Pink
- Allegory & Personifications/Fidelity
- Nature, Landscape & The Elements/Flowers/Carnation
- Allegory & Personifications/Love
- Everyday Life/Relationships/Courtship & Marriage