Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap
c. 1480
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
Panel: 29.5 × 21.6 cm (11 5/8 × 8 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
218072
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Portrait of a Man in Red Cap*, a captivating-on-panel work by an anonymous German artist from around 1480, now housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Department of European Painting and Sculpture. This intimate portrait, measuring just .5 × 21.6 cm, a sharply dressed sitter gazing directly at us, his vivid red cap—a fashionable chaperon of the era—adding a pop of color against the subdued background. Such small-scale panels were ideal for private homes, reflecting the growing demand for personal likenesses among Germany's emerging merchant class during the late Gothic period. Craft...
About the Artist
German
**German, Franconia (active ca. 1485–1500)** was an anonymous artist from the Franconian region of northern Bavaria, Germany, renowned for his contributions to late Gothic graphic arts. Little is known of his early life or training, as details about many anonymous masters from this era remain undocumented. Franconia, with its vibrant artistic centers like Nuremberg, fostered a rich tradition of re...