Portrait of a Donor

c. 1470/1475

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned man is angled slightly to our right with his hands together in prayer in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s slightly bulging blue eyes lift to look up and to the right. Wrinkles line his forehead and the corners of his eyes and lips. His cheeks are hollow, and the temple we see slightly sunken. He has a long nose, bags under his eyes, and his thin lips are pressed together in a line over a pointed chin. Straight brown hair parts to either side of his high forehead and falls to just beneath his ears. His raspberry-red shirt has a high black collar, and a dark, burgundy red scarf drapes over his far shoulder. All of his fingertips touch except for the pinkies, which pass each other to make an X shape. The man is evenly lit against a brown background.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on hardboard transferred from panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 25.7 x 20.6 cm (10 1/8 x 8 1/8 in.)
    overall (panel): 27.2 x 22.2 cm (10 11/16 x 8 3/4 in.)
    framed: 43.5 x 38.1 x 6.9 cm (17 1/8 x 15 x 2 11/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1961.9.66

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

John Osmaston, Osmaston Manor, Derbyshire, by 1879.[1] Alfred Brown, Brighton, by 1906.[2] Mrs. M. A. T. Slark; (sale, Christie's, London, 25 June 1948, no. 67, as by Jan van Eyck); acquired by (David M. Koetser Gallery, New York, London, and Zurich).[3] (M. Knoedler & Co., New York, by 1950); on joint account with (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London) and (Pinakos, Inc [Rudolf Heinemann], New York); purchased February 1952 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] John Osmaston is listed as owner in Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School, London, Royal Academy of the Arts, 1879, no. 218 (as Jan van Eyck).
[2] Alfred Brown is listed as owner in Exhibition of Works by Flemish and Modern Belgian Painters, London, Art Gallery of the Corporation of London (Guildhall), 1906, no. 4 (as John van Eyck).
[3] Seller and buyer per annotated auctioneer catalogue, Christie's Archive, London.
[4] M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Stock book no. 10, p. 40, no. A3945, and Sales book no. 16, p. 383 (copies in NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1667).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1879

  • Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1879, no. 218, as Jan van Eyck.

1906

  • Exhibition of Works by Flemish and Modern Belgian Painters, Art Gallery of the Corporation of London [Guildhall], 1906, no. 4, as John van Eyck.

1950

  • Art of the Middle Ages, The Denver Art Museum, 1950-1951, no cat., as Dirck Bouts.

Bibliography

1906

  • Friedländer, Max J. "Die Leihausstellung in der Guildhall zu London, Sommer 1906, Hauptsächlich niederländische Bilder des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 29 (1906): 574.

  • Weale, W. H. James. "Netherlandish Art at the Guildhall. Part 1." The Burlington Magazine 9 (1906): 186.

1924

  • Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei 14 vols. 1924-1937. Berlin, 1925: 3:106, no. 7, pl. 12. (English ed., 14 vols., 1967-1976. Leiden, 1968: 3:no. 7, pl. 13.)

1929

  • Fierens, Gevaert, and Paul Fierens. Histoire de la peinture flamande des origines à la fin du XVe siècle. 3 vols. Paris and Brussels, 1929: 3:18.

1932

  • Baldass, Ludwig. "Die Entwicklung des Dirk Bouts. Eine Stilgeschichtliche Untersuchung." Jahrbuch des kunsthistorisches Sammlung in Wien N. F. 6 (1932): 93

1938

  • Schöne, Wolfgang. Dieric Bouts und seine Schule. Berlin and Leipzig, 1938: 41, 170, no. 54, pl. 72a.

1950

  • Bach, Otto Karl. "Art of the Middle Ages." Denver Art Museum Quarterly (Winter 1950): 7-8, repro.

1956

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 42, no. 12, repro., as by Dirck Bouts.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 282, repro., as by Dirck Bouts.

1964

  • Winkler, Friedrich. Das Werk des Hugo van der Goes. Berlin, 1964: 254, fig. 200.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 19, as by Bouts.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 12, repro., as by Bouts.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue (National Gallery of Art). Washington, 1975: 44-45, repro, as by Dirck Bouts.

1977

  • Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 54, fig. 56, as Donor Portrait by Circle of Dieric Bouts.

  • Pope-Hennessy, John. "Completing the Account." Review of Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, London 1977. Times Literary Supplement no. 3,927 (17 June 1977).

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New and Revised Edition. Washington, 1984: 125, no. 110, color repro., as by Dirk Bouts.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 66, repro.

1986

  • Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 25-26, repro. 24.

Wikidata ID

Q20174018

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