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Portrait of a Boy

Photo credit: The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

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Notes

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This panel originally formed the lid of an inheritance chest. This was constructed to hold the marble bust of Angelo Probi who died in 1474. He was ambassador to Venice for the King of Naples. The portrait therefore probably shows his son who muses sadly on his father’s fate. The inscription on the marble ledge records that it is the work of Giovanni Bellini, the Venetian. Bellini adds the words ‘NON ALITER’, meaning ‘not otherwise’. This is perhaps a claim to his skill as a portraitist, someone who can preserve accurately forever what age and death destroys.
Title

Portrait of a Boy

Date

probably 1470s

Medium

tempera on wood

Measurements

H 38 x W 23 cm

Accession number

46.11

Acquisition method

purchased, 1946

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

Signed and dated: OPUS BELLINI IOANNIS VENETI/NONALITER

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Normally on display at

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands B15 2TS England

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