Portrait of a Man
Medium
Ivory
Dimensions
Oval, 1 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (36 x 28 mm)
Classification
Miniatures
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Louis V. Bell, in memory of her husband, 1925
Accession Number
25.106.37
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate *Portrait of a Man*, by an anonymous French painter exemplifies the intimate art of 18th- or early 19th-century European mini. Measuring just 13/8 x 1 1/8 inches (an oval thumbnail-sized gem), it was painted on ivory—a medium prized for its smooth, translucent surface that allows light to illuminate fine details, lending portraits a luminous, lifelike glow. Such miniatures were personal treasures, often worn as lockets or pinned to clothing, serving as cherished mementos of loved ones or status symbols among the elite. Ivory miniatures like this one highlight the technical virtu...
About the Artist
French Painter
"French Painter" is a scholarly attribution designation used by art historians and museum curators to catalogue paintings produced in France — or by artists trained in the French tradition — when the specific creator cannot be identified with confidence. Rather than leave a work without provenance context or assign it speculatively to a named artist, curators apply this designation alongside an ap...