Currently not on view
Portrait of a Jeweler,
1516
Franciabigio (Francesco di Cristofano Guidicis), Italian, 1482/3–1525
y1983-4
The Florentine artist Franciabigio was particularly known for his portraits, such as this penetrating image of a jeweler. The painting demonstrates the continuing Renaissance revitalization of portraiture, a genre that played a secondary role in medieval European art. In Florence, profile portraits were customary until 1470, when full-face and three-quarter views like this, as well as the half-length format, became more prominent. This pose, following the lead of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, includes the hands and allows the viewer to see more of the face and psychology of the subject. Here the sitter holds a touchstone—one of the instruments of his profession—which was used to test the quality of gold and silver alloys.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Portrait of a Jeweler
Dates
1516
Medium
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
69.5 × 51.6 cm (27 3/8 × 20 5/16 in.)
frame: 87.6 × 71.4 × 8.3 cm (34 1/2 × 28 1/8 × 3 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
y1983-4
Signatures
Initialed and dated on face of parapet: F. A.S. MD XVI P.
Culture
Type
Materials
Worsley Family, England; Earls of Yarborough, London and Brocklesby Park (by 1857–1929; sale, Christie’s London, July 12, 1929, lot 34, to Abraham); A. J. Sulley, Esq., England (until 1934; sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, June 1, 1934, lot 19, to ?Betts); ?Betts, London; Arthur Kauffmann, London (in 1955; sold to Rosenberg); Trude Rosenberg, London (1955–81; sale, Sotheby’s London, April 8, 1981); Piero Corsini, New York (in 1983; sold to Princeton University Art Museum).
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- Julia Mary Cartwright Ady, The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, (London: John Murray, 1902)., p. 333
- J. A. Crowe and G. B. Cavalcaselle, A history of painting in Italy, Umbria, Florence and Siena, from the second to the sixteenth century, (London: J. Murray, 1903-14)., Vol. 5: p. 416, note 4
- Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, eds., Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1907-1950)., Vol. 22: p. 297
- Adolfo Venturi, Storia dell'arte italiana, (Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1925-1937)., Vol. 9: p. 452
- Catalogue of important pictures by old masters: the property of the Right Hon. the Earl of Yarborough ... the property of Capt. the Hon. Marcus Pelham, (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1929)., no. 74
- Catalogue of pictures by old masters, the property of the late A.J. Sulley, Esq., (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1934)., no. 19
- "Notable works of art now on the market: supplement", Burlington magazine 97, no. 628 (Jul., 1955)., pl. 9
- Sydney Joseph Freedberg, Painting of the high Renaissance in Rome and Florence, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961).
- Creighton Gilbert, "S. J. Freedberg, painting of the High Renaissance in Rome and Florence [review]", Art journal 21, no. 4 (Summer, 1962): p. 288-289., p. 288ff
- Fiorella Sricchia Santoro, "Per il Franciabigio", Paragone. Arte 14, no. 163 (1963): p. 3-23., p. 3ff
- Bernard Berenson, Italian pictures of the Renaissance: a list of the principal artists and their works, with an index of places: Florentine school, (London: Phaidon Press, 1963)., p. 86
- Susan Regan McKillop, Franciabigio, (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1974)., p. 146-47, no. 20; fig. 61
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Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. 1981. Fine Old Master Paintings, sale code CATKIN. 8 April 1981, London.
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1983," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 43, no. 1 (1984): p. 18-42., p. 30
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 252 (illus.)
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Le XVIIème siècle: racines et développements = The 17th century, roots and developments, (Paris: G. Sarti, 2003).
, Black and White - Existing Negative - David Franklin et al., Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and the Renaissance in Florence, (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005)., cat. no. 47, 164, illus.; p. 164-165
