Portrait of a Man by Antonello da Messina (abt. 1475-6)

            This small painting shows how Antonello revolutionised Venetian portraiture in the late fifteenth century: the three-quarter pose, dark background and strong lighting are all innovations from Northern Europe which focus attention entirely on the man’s face.

Antonello’s skill at painting in oil enabled him to mimic the very precise painting style of northern masters like van Eyck, whose works were highly sought after in Venice where he travelled around the time this picture was made. By building up colour through layers of varied shades he was able to emphasise the volume and contours of the face using colour, rather than harsh lines. The glossiness of the oil paint adds shine to the man’s eyes so they look as if they are catching the light.

These techniques made Antonello’s portraits vivid, intense and lifelike. His successful formula for painting portraits was quickly adopted by his contemporaries.

Oil on poplar. Painted about 1475-6.

Antonello da Messina, active 1456; died 1479. 

National Gallery, London (NG1141)

Some rights reserved

Taken on: December 16, 2023

Tags:

painting

portrait

Venetian

15th century

oil painting

National Gallery « less

Sets appears in: • Paintings • Britain’s National Gallery (London)

Groups appears in: • Museums and Galleries • Museums of the World more » • National Gallery • Treasures of Painting • Your Museum Images • Photos at the Museum « less

Camera: Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, f/1.8, 1/30 sec, 6.9mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Lens:	iPhone 15 Pro Max back triple camera 6.86mm f/1.78
Aperture:	f/1.8
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	6.9mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	-0.791 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	17.1.2
Show full info

Stats: 622 views / 2 comments

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder