Head of a Man (Apostle)
Artist/Maker
DatesMade: Made first half of 1600s
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 42 x 43,5 cm (rundel)
Inventory numberNM 7268
AcqusitionTransferred 2014 from Kongl. Museum
Other titlesTitle (sv): Apostlahuvud Title (en): Head of a Man (Apostle) Previous: Head of an Apostle
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 18: FORMER INV. NOS.: 413 (M. 1796–97); 161 (F. 1798); 399 (M. 1804); KM 975. TECHNICAL NOTES: The support consists of a single hardwood board. The panel has cracked into two pieces, perpendicular to the wood grain, and has later been glued together. It is worm-eaten. A thin, red-brown ground covers the whole panel. The paint layer has a thin network of cracks in the direction of the grain. There are some minor paint losses. The varnish is very thick and yellowed. PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sander 1872–76, III, p. 131, no. 399 (as Caravaggio); Prytz and Eriksson 2010, pp. 77–86. This painting depicts an old man with a white beard, who has his head turned to the right. He is dressed in a yellow garment In the early inventories and on a paper label on the reverse, the work is entitled “Apostolo”,¹ which has led to suggestions that it may depict Matthew or even one of the church fathers, Jerome or Augustine.² The head has similarities to the heads of Matthew by Caravaggio, but even more to the depictions of one of the shepherds in his Adoration, inspired by an Adoration by Polidoro da Caravaggio, both to be found in Messina.³ It is of course possible to suggest an apostle or a church father as the subject of this painting, but until the original to which it refers has been found we cannot be certain about the identity of the old man. There are similar tondi by Caravaggio’s followers, including artists like Angelo Caroselli and Bartolomeo Manfredi,⁴ but none of them can with certainty be assigned the authorship of these paintings. JE 1 NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, F:1, Catalogue du Cabinet de Martelli (à Rome). 2 Ann-Christine Montalvo, unpublished paper, Gotland University, 2012. 3 Ibid. 4 See Semprebene 2011; Hartje 2005; Papi 2013. [End]
Motif categoryReligion/Mythology
Collection
Geographical origin
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword
External links