Liechtenstein Collections Logo
DE
existing user
forgot password?
REGISTER
Your benefits
  • Save artworks as favourites
  • Create, edit and print your favourites lists
  • Art
    • Collections
    • The Collections Online
    • Publications
    • News
  • Presentation
    • Presentation
    • Permanent Presentation
    • Special Exhibitions
    • Loans
  • History
    • History of the Family and the Collections
    • The Princely House
    • Garden Palace
    • City Palace
  • Art
    • Collections
    • The Collections Online
    • Publications
    • News
  • Presentation
    • Presentation
    • Permanent Presentation
    • Special Exhibitions
    • Loans
  • History
    • History of the Family and the Collections
    • The Princely House
    • Garden Palace
    • City Palace

Save search query

Please log in to mark objects as favourites.
Portrait of a Gentleman   Domenikos Theotokopoulos, called El Greco (1541–1614)

Portrait of a Gentleman

Domenikos Theotokopoulos, called El Greco (1541–1614)

1570

this site may contain automatically translated text
Porträt eines Mannes

Following its restoration in the conservation studio of the Princely Collections, the recently acquired "Portrait of a Gentleman" by El Greco is being presented to the public for the first time in the setting of the permanent presentation at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace.
Although a family coat of arms at lower right has been preserved and an inscription to the left beside the shoulder dates the painting to 13 June 1570, the sitter has not yet been identified. There is documentary evidence for the artist residing at the Palazzo Farnese in Rome in November 1570. In a letter sent to his patron Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the miniaturist Giulio Clovio requests quarters for the painter from Candia (present-day Heraklion), who – so Clovio claimed – had already garnered acclaim among Roman artists for a self-portrait. El Greco consequently resided at the Palazzo Farnese for two years before suddenly leaving for Spain. Whether Clovio’s letter of recommendation was a blatant forgery by El Greco and the reason for his abrupt departure is currently a subject of scholarly discussion.
Accordingly, the painting in the Princely Collections could have been made in Rome, although it is not known exactly when the painter arrived in the Eternal City. It is also conceivable that it was painted while the artist was still in Venice.
Stylistically the portrait clearly draws on Venetian models, in particular Titian, Jacopo Bassano and Tintoretto. Their influence is plainly apparent in its restrained coloration, monochrome background and the open, partly dry brushwork. El Greco used the book with its distinctive white and red page marker ribbons again in his "Portrait of a Man" that is today held at the Danish National Gallery in Copenhagen and is traditionally dated to the years after 1570.
The "Portrait of a Gentleman" was documented in the Priester Collection in Vienna from 1924 before being confiscated by the Gestapo in 1944. After appearing several times on the international fine art market it was finally restituted to the heirs of Julius and Camilla Priester in 2015. In December 2021 it was sold at auction in London and acquired for the Princely Collections.

Material/technique
oil on canvas
Measurements
100 × 83 cm
Acquisition
acquired in 2021 by Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein
Currently exhibited
Garden Palace, permanent presentation
Artists/makers/authors
Domenikos Theotokopoulos, called El Greco
New Acquisition
Detailed information
Inventory number
GE 2577
Signature/inscriptions content only available in German
Dat. und bez. Mitte links: NASCITVR SESTO CALEND. SEPTEB. / ANNO DNI. M.D.XXIII. / ...ITVR VERO IDIB. IVN. M.D.LXX.
Provenance
probably Ritter von Schoeller Collection, Vienna; 1924 Julius and Camilla Priester; 11 February 1944 confiscated by the Gestapo; Bernhard Wittke, Vienna; Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna; 1952 Frederick Mont, New York; March 1953 M. Knoedler & Co, New York (owned jointly with Frederick Mont and Pianos Inc); privately owned since the 1970s, Italy; 2010 art dealership, London; restituted to the heirs of Julius and Camilla Priester in 2015; acquired in 7 December 2021 by Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein at Christie's, London, auction "Old Masters Evening Sale", lot 5
Place of origin
Italy
Iconography
male portrait, not identified
Literature
Martin Sebastian Soria, Greco's Italian Period, in: Arte Veneta, Bd. 8.1954 (1955), S. 213–221, S. 217–221

Harold E. Wethey, El Greco and His School, 2 Bde., Princeton, N.J. 1962, Bd. II, S. 202–203, Kat.-Nr. X-170

José Camón Aznar, Dominico Greco, 2 Bde., Madrid 1970, S. 150, Abb. 91

Lionello Puppi, Il pittore nel suo labirinto, in: Ausst.-Kat.El Greco in Italia. Metamorfosi di un genio, Lionello Puppi (Hg.), Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso 24.10.2015–10.4.2016, Milano 2015, S. 23–37, S. 29–30

Maria Paphiti, Chi desidera un El Greco?, in: Ausst.-Kat.El Greco in Italia. Metamorfosi di un genio. Saggi, Lionello Puppi (Hg.), Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso 24.10.2015–10.4.2016, Milano 2015, S. 267–277, S. 274–275

Keith Christiansen, Greco en Italie, in: Ausst.-Kat.Greco, Guillaume Kientz (Hg.), Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais, le musée du Louvre, Paris 16.10.2919–10.2.2020, Paris 2019, S. 26–37, S. 32

Fernando Marías, El Greco. Life and Work – An New History, New York 2013, S. 69, S. 287 Fn. 64, Abb. S. 92

Ausst.-Kat. El Greco in Italia. Metamorfosi di un genio, Lionello Puppi (Hg.), Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso 24.10.2015–10.4.2016, erschienen Milano 2015, S. 113, Kat.-Nr. 48

Ausst.-Kat. Greco, Guillaume Kientz (Hg.), Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais, le musée du Louvre, Paris 16.10.2919–10.2.2020, erschienen Paris 2019, S. 112–114, Kat.-Nr. 20

Auktions-Kat. Old Masters Evening Sale, Christie’s, London 7.12.2021, London 2021, S. 18–23
notification text

Download low-res image

Order high-res image

Download PDF

DOWNLOAD LOW-RES IMAGE

In accordance with our Open Content Policy, we provide free downloads of photos of artworks in the Princely Collections that are protected either by copyright and/or ancillary protection law in limited sizes for non-commercial use. Our Conditions of Use for Photographs apply.

We would appreciate a specimen copy or a link to your use context, sent to [email protected].

DOWNLOAD
ORDER HIGH-RES IMAGE

There are currently no publishable, high-resolution digital image files available to download of this object. If you require professional photos for commercial use, please contact [email protected]. For press enquiries, please contact [email protected]. We will be happy to take care of your request.

Download PDF

Here you can download a PDF with information on the object.

Download PDF

new list

notification text

LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna

Fürstliche Sammlungen Art Service GmbH
Fürstengasse 1
1090 Vienna, Austria

phone: +43 1 319 13 91–0
fax: +43 1 319 13 91–820
[email protected]

Visit us at

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Sponsor of the Princely Collections

Logo LGT
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Press
  • TEAM
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Imprint