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Bartolomeo Bianchini

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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Bartolomeo Bianchini was a nobleman and humanist scholar from Bologna – his name is written on the letter he holds. This is the earliest known use of a letter as a means of naming the sitter in an Italian portrait.

The painted ledge makes it appear that we are looking through a window. Bianchini’s hand seems to project over the ledge, creating the illusion that our world and the painted world are continuous, making the portrait seem more real. Ledges like this are used for the same effect in many earlier Netherlandish portraits .

The lighting from the right is unusual, suggesting that this portrait might once have been paired with a companion picture lit from the left – perhaps a portrait of the man who wrote the letter. This portrait seems to be based on the Portrait of a Man with a Ring by Francesco del Cossa (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid).

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Bartolomeo Bianchini

Date

perhaps about 1485-1500

Medium

Oil on wood

Measurements

H 56.5 x W 40.6 cm

Accession number

NG2487

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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