Ambrosiana

Portrait of a Gentleman (Michel de l’Hospital) Giovan Battista Moroni (1520-1578)

Portrait of a Gentleman (Michel de l’Hospital)

Giovan Battista Moroni (1520-1578)

  • TITLE

    : Portrait of a Gentleman (Michel de l’Hospital)
  • AUTHOR

    : Giovan Battista Moroni (1520-1578)
  • INVENTARIO

    : 196
  • DATE

    : 1554
  • TYPE

    : Painting
  • TECNIQUE

    : Oil on canvas
  • DIMENSIONS

    : 185 × 115 cm
  • SUBJECT

    : Portrait
  • SCUOLA PITTORICA

    : 16th century painting
  • ROOM

    : 12

In Roman numerals on the fragment of stone at the bottom right we see the date when Giovan Battista Moroni finished this portrait: 1554. It shows a gentleman, full-length, leaning on the plinth of a column, on which we see a Latin phrase taken from Horace: Impavidum ferient ruinae (“Ruins would strike him undismayed”). This motto has made it possible to make a hypothesis about the identity of the sitter: it might be Michel de l’Hospital, the representative of the King of France at the Tridentine Council (1547-1548), who did indeed use this phrase from Horace as his own personal motto, even though it was fairly common in sixteenth-century France. The painting is remarkable for its attention to detail, from the sitter’s garments through to the subtle play of shadows.

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  • TITLE

    Portrait of a Gentleman (Michel de l’Hospital)
  • AUTHOR

    Giovan Battista Moroni (1520-1578)
  • INVENTARIO

    196
  • DATE

    1554
  • TYPE

    Painting
  • TECNIQUE

    Oil on canvas
  • DIMENSIONS

    185 × 115 cm
  • SUBJECT

    Portrait
  • SCUOLA PITTORICA

    16th century painting
  • ROOM

    12

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