Unknown Man
Followerfollower of
Peter Lely
(British, 1618-1680)
Formerformerly attributed to
Godfrey Kneller
(British, 1646 - 1723)
Collections
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Dateca. 1660
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 22 7/8 × 20 1/2 in. (58.1 × 52.1 cm.)
frame: 26 3/4 × 24 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (67.9 × 61.6 × 3.8 cm.)
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Jared Judd Jackson, in memory of his parents, Professor and Mrs. William A. Jackson
Label TextThe identity of the sitter is unknown.This painting was formerly attributed to Godfrey Kneller and identified as a portrait of the writer John Dryden, but neither of these associations now seems credible. Resemblance to authenticated likenesses of Dryden is minimal, and the sensuous conception of the facial features has more in common with the era of Peter Lely than that of Kneller. The incomplete state of the painting (evidenced by large passages of entirely unpainted canvas and by the extremely sketchy rendering of the drapery) complicates the question of attribution. The bold handling, which points to an artist such as William Dobson, may represent only the initial blocking-in of the portrait which would have become more smoothly finished at a subsequent phase of the painting process.
There can be less doubt, however, about the bold manner in which the subject himself is characterized. The messy coiffure and slovenly facial grooming contrast with the fashions of the period, and indicate that the sitter is represented in accordance with romantic notions of creativity. Artists and writers were typically portrayed in informal states of undress that men of other professions tended to eschew when sitting for a portrait. In the present instance, the very nature of the painting as a work-in-progress bolsters its associations with creativity and informality. In addition, the lack of pretense in the presentation and in the sensitive rendering of the face engenders a moving impression of intimacy. The delicate penciling of the moustache, the vigorous strokes used for highlights around the eyes and nose, and the treatment of the full lips and cleft chin capture the individuality of the head and convey a vivid sense of personality.
The sensitivity and vulnerability of the man's expression, in combination with the vigorous brushwork and romantic dishevelment of his hair and beard, suggest comparison with Isaac Fuller, a painter whose work is not very well documented, but who was notorious in the late seventeenth century for his Bohemian lifestyle and predilection for painting artisans, artists, and writers. J. E. Elsum memorialized Fuller in his Epigrams on Paintings (1700) with verses on "A Drunken Sot": "His head does on his shoulder lean/ His Eyes are sunk, & Hardly seen/ who sees this Sot in his own Colour/ is apt to say twas drawn by Fuller." The shape of the face and the treatment of the eyes, eyebrows, mouth, cleft chin, and hairstyle in the present portrait bear some resemblance to two portraits attributed to Fuller: one a young man at the Clark Library, the other Fuller's self-portrait in middle age (Sotheby's, 9 April 1997 [21]). Whether the artist proves to be Isaac Fuller or another painter in Lely's outer orbit, this portrait provides a masterful example of the psychological nuance and technical excellence of late-seventeenth-century English portraiture at its best.
Status
Not on viewObject number97.41
Terms
