Portrait of a man playing a lute

Passarotti, Bartolomeo (1529-1592)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1576

Height:

77.0 cm  (30 5/16 in.)

Width:

60.0 cm  (23 5/8 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Place of creation:

Bologna (Italia)

School:

Italian

Description

Description from museum website:
The man’s costume, with its prominent white lace collar and cuffs, is typical of Bolognese gentlemen in the period. Leaning informally against a table, he deftly strums his lute—possibly to the tune of the folded sheet of music beside him—while gazing at the viewer. The sheet is only partially decipherable and its text, which could contain clues to the sitter’s identity, has thus far eluded identification. The portrait, which bears a date in Roman numerals at upper right, was executed at the height of Passarotti’s career.

Iconclass

48C713
portrait of a musician
48C7522
one person playing string instrument (plucked)
48C74
notation of music

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Lute [3394] (six-course)

Musical works

legible music notation
partially legible sheet of music

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Notes

Note from museum website: Accessioned as a work by Agostino Carracci.

RIdIM record id

5852