An Unknown Man with a Red Collar
attributed to Corneille de Lyon (The Hague 1500/10 – Lyon 1575)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1550
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
172 x 133 mm
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486202
Caption
This picture has been inscribed on the back with the name ‘Tiziano’, but it is inconceivable that it is by the Venetian Renaissance artist. In contrast to the portraits by Corneille at other National Trust houses, Polesden Lacey and Upton, this is a routine picture of a presumably bourgeois sitter. The quality of the picture, stylistically and technically, is rather banal, which suggests that it is perhaps by a studio assistant or imitator. If compared with the portrait of another ‘Unknown Man’ from the Musée Bonnat at Bayonne, it almost prompts one to wonder whether it is not an inferior replica of that, with minor alterations. However, it could just be that Corneille reserved and inferior and time-saving method for sitters of this quality.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, An Unknown Man with a Red Collar, attributed to Corneille de Lyon (The Hague 1500/10 – Lyons 1575), circa 1550. A head-and shoulders portrait turned slightly to the right, gazing at the spectator, wearing a black tunic and cap, the thin edge of a red shirt and collar showing, against a green background.
Provenance
In the collection of the 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) by 1835. Thence by descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72) arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by H.M.Treasury.
Credit line
Petworth House, The Egremont Collection (acquired in lieu of tax by HM Treasury in 1956 and subsequently transferred to the National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Tiziano (inscribed on back)
Makers and roles
attributed to Corneille de Lyon (The Hague 1500/10 – Lyon 1575), artist