Painted by an unknown artist around 1500-1550, Portrait of a Nobleman features a man in a luxurious red and white robe decorated with precious metals, jewels, and feathers. His elongated fingers, small shoulders, thin eyebrows, and pursed lips were all typical characteristics of Flemish portraits at this time and lend the sitter an air of confidence and sophistication. In his left hand, the man clutches a sword handle, a symbol of gentlemanly status and privilege. In his right, he holds a pair of gloves, the removal of which could have been read as a gesture of surrender, love, or friendship. More clues about the portrait’s purpose come from the four objects placed in front of the young man. All of these small items may be interpreted as symbols that indicate this work to be a wedding portrait.
Just as we might use a ‘profile’ picture today to tell others about ourselves, wealthy people of the past often presented themselves through portraiture. This was certainly true within the thriving world of the Netherlands during the Northern European Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries. This was a time in which cross-cultural European trade was strong, enabling non-noble peoples to earn substantial fortunes and new standing within society. This, in turn, stimulated secular patronage to the arts and increased demand for religious works, portraits, and the newly popular genre scenes—leading to important artistic developments, such as the invention and mastery of oil paint.
Although flies, such as the one painted on the far left, hold melancholic associations like death or impurity, the one depicted here may represent a metamorphosis or change—the sitter’s transition from single to married or child to adult. The carnation flower on the far right was also popular as a symbol of marriage or engagement. Likewise, the pair of gold rings could have served as a metaphor for wealth or the strength of the marriage bond.
The meaning of the orange peel is indistinct and complex. On one hand, 16th century Dutch society regarded citrus fruit as representational of modernization and luxury. In portraiture, it was often used to indicate the impressiveness of the sitter’s social or moral status. Citrus was also symbolic of weddings, marriage, and love. German-speaking Europe regarded lemons and bitter oranges with an additional morbid significance as they were used in rituals surrounding illness, death, and funerals. A final possible meaning of the fruit could be an indicator of familial relation to the Dutch ruling dynasty of Orange—originating from William of Orange, a primary leader of the Dutch revolt in the Eighty Years’ War—providing possible further evidence of this sitter’s royal status.
Although this portrait is not very realistic, viewers may note especially fine details in this work, such as the delicate rendering of the gentleman’s eyes, mouth, and hair and the ornate beading of his costume. The specificity of these details is made possible by the use of oil paint which, unlike other types of paint, dries slowly, allowing for the artist to add increasing detail or make corrections over a long period of time. Fostered by the utilization of these properties as well as a Dutch interest in verisimilitude (truthfulness or realness), minute detail developed as one of chief characteristics of Northern Renaissance artworks. In addition to great detail, the artist took care to construct a real sense of space within this work. Although the ledge in the paintings separates the sitter from the viewer, it is positioned in the foreground of the painting and at an angle at which viewers may feel that they could reach in touch the objects on its surface.
