Painting exhibition at the Hermitage was brought from the old meeting of the Municipal Museum of Art (Palazzo Madama) Turin

Antonello da Messina
Male portrait (" Portrait Trivultsio "). 1476
Oil on wood
old Municipal Museum of Art ( Palazzo Madama ) Turin
Source : hermitagemuseum.org

State Hermitage Museum
December 7, 2013 - February 9, 2014
St. Petersburg, Winter Palace, the Apollo Hall (№ 260 )

The State Hermitage Museum in a series of " Masterpieces of the World's Museums in the Hermitage " , an exhibition of paintings by Antonello da Messina " portrait of a Man " from the collection of the City Museum of old Art ( Palazzo Madama ) in Turin .

exhibited works of particular interest , as the collections of Russian museums of this painter are not represented .

Antonello da Messina ( ca . 1431-1479) - artist of the early Renaissance , the only major painter of southern Italy , the region lagged behind in political and artistic development of the center and north of the country even .

He appealed to the portrait genre , being already mature master . Remained about ten male images of his work. All are built on the same scheme , borrowed from Dutch art : the figure shows the bust of a three-quarter turn . Taking the this scheme , Antonello created his own type of portrait : he abandoned the show of hands from demonstrating signs of social status and any objects that may hint at the status or occupation model. Despite the modesty of dress and lack of attributes , we can confidently say that the artist posed for wealthy people : ordinary citizens such orders could not afford .

« Portrait of a Man " by Antonello da Messina sometimes called portrait Trivulzio , Milan surname of the family that owned the portrait before entering the City Museum of Turin ( Palazzo Madama ) in 1935 .

basis for small size 37,4 × 29,5 cm work began with a very thin (5 mm ) poplar board, not treated at the edges - per frame. Over time, the tree began to buckle , and in 2003 , the portrait was restored . He created a new technique for Italy - oil painting, which is so famous Antonello . Below, on the parapet - written piece of paper on which bred the artist's signature and date : 1476 /Antonellus messaneus /pinxit ( 1476 . Messinets Antonello wrote ).

Who posed for the portrait - unknown . With a portrait on the viewer looks older man . It thick jacket, which is visible from beneath the gate stripe shirt on his shaved head - dark Capucci ( hood with a cape ) , the edges of which falls on his back and chest. Colours are very restrained . The main accent - red jacket , white collar shading , on a dark olive background . Half- , highlighted by almost completely fills the space , neutral background is minimized . The artist clearly conveys not only the shape of the skull, but also raised the facial muscles , wrinkles around the lips and eyes. Placing the figure in space, the play of light , the lack of any distractions was master compels the viewer to focus on the man's face , especially in his eyes - a man of powerful , confident, conscious of its place in the world .

Antonello da Messina Portrait - Portrait of a man is a new era , " neither heaven nor earth , neither mortal nor immortal ," and "free sculptor " of their own destiny .

curator of the exhibition - Tatiana Kirillovna Kustodiev , a leading researcher in the Department of Western European Art of the State Hermitage , PhD .

The exhibition illustrated booklet ( State Hermitage Publishing House , 2013 ) , author of the text - T. K. Kustodiev .

Source : hermitagemuseum.org