Portraits from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection

Portrait of Man with ruff collar
Portrait of a Man

Artist:  Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, 1606–1669)
Title:  Portrait of a Man
Date:  1632
Medium:  Oil on wood
Dimensions: Oval, 29 3/4 x 20 1/2 in. (75.6 x 52.1 cm)
Classification:  Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Lincoln Ellsworth, in memory of Lincoln Ellsworth, 1964
Accession Number:  64.126

Collection:  Metropolitan Museum of Art

metmuseum.org

Here’s another portrait painted on an oval shape.  The sitter’s hair and beard look like we could feel them with our hands.

Again, there’s a ruffled, thick collar – maybe that’s where the name “ruff” came from.

I wish I knew what his name was, and what he did for a living.  He seems gentle-looking, but also  strong-willed.  If he had traveled to 22 Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes would have found out for us!

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Young Woman Wearing a Collar
A Young Woman in an Interior

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Artist:  Dutch Painter, second quarter 17th century
Title:   A Young Woman in an Interior
Medium:  Oil on wood
Dimensions: 17 x 13 7/8 in. (43.2 x 35.2 cm)
Classification:  Paintings
Credit Line: Bequest of Annette B. McFadden, 1971
Accession Number:  1971.186

Collection:  Metropolitan Museum of Art

www.metmuseum.org

Here’s a young lady wearing the same kind of “ruff.”  The interior looks very dark; maybe it’s night-time.  I wonder if the box at the left is her jewelry box, where she keeps her rings, and keepsakes.  She looks sad, and quiet.

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Man with collar
Portrait of a Man, possibly an Architect or Geographer

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640)
Title: Portrait of a Man, Possibly an Architect or Geographer
Medium:  Oil on copper
Dimensions:  8 1/2 x 5 3/4 in. (21.6 x 14.6 cm)
Classification:  Paintings
Credit Line:  The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
Accession Number:  1982.60.24

“Notes:*   This portrait is the earliest known dated work by Rubens. The sitter, aged 26, has not been identified, but has been variously described, on the basis of the objects that he holds, as a geographer, an architect, an astronomer, a goldsmith, and a watchmaker. The watch must be independently significant as a vanitas motif. The engraving of the artist’s name on the back of the copper plate is probably contemporary with the painting and is possibly Rubens’s work.”
*(“Notes” are from The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Collection:  Metropolitan Museum of Art
Note from Merillion:  It looks like this sitter is  at a window, with the outer part of his hand resting on the sill.  I believe the objects he’s holding are for the concept of the painting, not because he is in the described professions.  His fingernails are dirty; his hands appear to be rough. There’s something about this fellow’s eyes – he looks a little sly and a bit mischievous!

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Woman with Collar - Miniature
Portrait of a Woman
Artist:  Nicholas Hilliard (English, 1547–1619)
Title:   Portrait of a Woman
Date:   1597
Medium:  Vellum
Dimensions:  Oval, 1-7/8 in.  x 1-1/2 in. (47 x 39 mm)
Classification:  Miniatures
Credit Line:       Fletcher Fund, 1935
Accession Number:  35.89.2

Collection:  Metropolitan Museum of Art

Note from Merillion:  Frilly and frou-frou, but quite a collar, nonetheless!  This collar stands higher at the back of the neck, which is how I would prefer to have worn it.
As stated above, this painting is a miniature.  It amazes me that an artist can paint in an area so small!

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