Skip to main content
Collections Menu
#142: By Ian Wardropper, Director Transcript

This lavishly dressed young man wears a black overcoat lined with lynx fur, a gold saione (which is an outer garment worn under a coat), and a white shirt. His identity is unknown, but his red hat, which has been associated with men’s fashion in northern Europe, may be a clue to his origins, or perhaps his travels. The artist, Titian, lived in Venice, but his clientele hailed from far beyond the borders of the republic, which was a major crossroads for international travel and trade when this painting was made in the early sixteenth century. Titian may have painted this young man several years after the death in 1510 of his teacher, Giorgione, whose lyrical painting style infused Titian’s own art. Here, Titian’s young man lingers a gloved hand on the hilt of his rapier, a symbol of virility as well as the mark of a gentleman, while he gazes to the left—lost in thought or reverie. The American poet William Carlos Williams was beguiled by him, writing in 1952 that this young man “annihilates time as far as poor mortals may.”

Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat

 (Italian, 1488–1576)
Dateca. 1520
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions32 1/4 × 28 × 3/4 in. (81.9 × 71.1 × 1.9 cm)
Credit LineHenry Clay Frick Bequest
Accession number1915.1.116
Commentary

Various identities for the richly dressed young man in this portrait have been proposed, but none with any certainty. Nevertheless, the portrait seems to have been well known, at least in the seventeenth century; Carlo Dolci included a copy of the figure in the background of his Martyrdom of St. Andrew (Palazzo Pitti, Florence). The painting is generally considered an early work of Titian. The contemplative mood of the subject and the diffused, gentle play of light over the broadly painted surfaces are strongly reminiscent of Titian’s Venetian contemporary Giorgione. The canvas has in the past even been attributed to Giorgione. In mood, pose, and technique, the Frick portrait closely resembles the central figure of The Concert (Palazzo Pitti), a painting that also has been ascribed both to Titian and to Giorgione.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996

Collection History

Possibly with the Salviati family, Villa di Ponte alla Badia, Florence, until sold to Arthur Vansittart (1807–59), 1844; his son, Captain Coleraine Robert Vansittart (1833–86), Paris and Foot's Cray Place (Kent); his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, on the premises of Foot's Cray Place, May 1–4, 1876, lot 204 (May 2); where purchased by "Waters"; Christie, Manson & Woods, London, June 24, 1876, lot 122; where purchased by "Owens"; Christie's, London, May 12, 1906, lot 75; where purchased by Sir Hugh Lane (1875–1915); from whom purchased by Arthur Morton Grenfell (1873–1958), 1911; his estate sale, Christie's, London, June 26, 1914, lot 66; where purchased by Sir Hugh Lane; from whom purchased by Henry Clay Frick, 1915.

Source: Paintings in The Frick Collection: French, Italian and Spanish. Volume II. New York: The Frick Collection, 1968.

Updated by The Curatorial Department in 2022.

Not On View
oil painting of Pietro Aretino wearing a sleeveless black cloak with a fur collar over a copper…
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)
ca. 1537
Pen and ink drawing of a seated satyr holding a jug in a rocky landscape, with a city visible i…
Attributed to Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)
16th century
Oil painting of a standing man wearing black and white
Frans Hals
ca. 1660
Oil painting of standing man wearing black
Frans Hals
ca. 1627–30
oil painting of woman wearing a black dress with gold jewelry and holding a closed gray fan
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
1824
Oil painting of man wearing black and sitting in chair
Frans Hals
ca. 1650
Oil painting of sitting woman wearing black
Frans Hals
1635
Oil painting of sitting man wearing yellow and arms on armrest
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
1658
Oil painting of sitting man wearing black outfit and hat
Follower of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
1650s
Oil painting of standing woman wearing white and pink dress
James McNeill Whistler
1881–82
Copyright © 1998-2024 The Frick Collection. All Rights Reserved.
FacebookYoutubeInstagramTwitterGoogle Arts and Culturemenusearch2xX