Portrait of a Man

portrait

The painting is the right half of a diptych: the man originally faced a Madonna (now in a museum in Tambov, Russia). The sitter's most highly prized virtue is stoicism, a classical attribute, symbolized by the suicide of Lucretia shown on the verso of his portrait.

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About the Artist

Jan van Scorel

1495 – 1562

Jan van Scorel (Schoorel), the first Dutch painter of importance to study in Italy and responsible for introducing the Italian High Renaissance to the Netherlands. He was widely travelled and was appointed by Pope Hadrian VI superintendent of the Vatican Coll. In Rome he was influenced by Michelangelo and Raphael, particularly the latter. He returned to the Netherlands in 1524. His works include Pilgrims to Jerusalem, St Mary Magdalen and Holy Kinship. Van Scorel trained with Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen and possibly also with Jan Gossart , while his pupils included major painters such as Antonis Mor.

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