A Man in Black
- Artist: Italian, Venetian
- Date: about 1500
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the "A Man in Black" painted in the Italian north. The artist is thought to be of Venetian origin and it's believed to have been created around 1500. As you can see, the painting depicts a young man sitting against a window, with a hilly landscape visible through the glass. The scene outside shows a walled city on the shore of a lake under a cloudy sky.
The young man himself is dressed in the traditional attire of a Venetian citizen or aristocrat, which includes a cap, mantle, and stole. It's worth noting that the artist's use of strong light to depict the sitter close up shows the influence of one of the greatest Italian portraitists, Antonello da Messina. This painting is actually an example of how the style of Venetian portraiture was modernised by including a window with a landscape, which was taken from Netherlandish painting.
See it in person
A Man in Black hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
