''Man with a Glove'' ( French: ''L'Homme au Gant'') is an oil-on-canvas portrait by the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

artist

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...

, painted . It is part of the collections of the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Paris.

History

The work originates from the

Gonzaga family ) , type = Noble house , country = , estates = Ducal Palace (Mantua)Ducal Palace (Nevers) , titles = * Prince of Arches * Duke of Montferrat * Duke of Mantua * Duke of Guastalla * Duke of Nevers * Duk ...

's collection at

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

. It was acquired by

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

in 1627. Sometime after his beheading in 1649, the painting was auctioned and bought by the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

banker Eberhard Jabach. Eventually, it came in the possession of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

, and was transferred from the Palace of Versailles to the Louvre in 1792. The figure has not been identified with certainty. He could be Girolamo Adorno, mentioned in a 1527 letter from

Pietro Aretino Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his time and a ...

to Federico Gonzaga, or Giambattista Malatesta, an agent of the Gonzaga in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. According to another hypothesis, he could be

Ferrante Gonzaga Ferrante I Gonzaga (also Ferdinando I Gonzaga; 28 January 1507 – 15 November 1557) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla. Biography He was born in Mantua, th ...

, who was sixteen years old in 1523.

Description

The painting portrays a three-quarters view of a male figure set against a flat black background. He appears to be looking at an indefinite point to the left of the canvas, with his left arm laid on his knee. He could be pointing at his gloves, which were a fashion statement at the time. He is dressed in a wide jacket and a white shirt, in the fashion of the period. The man's gloved left hand holds a second leather glove; an accessory used by the most refined gentlemen of the time. His right hand is adorned with a golden ring, a symbol of richness, and a necklace decorated with a sapphire and a pearl. The use of a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

in portraits was a common device of the young Titian.

In popular culture

Fred Saberhagen Fred Thomas Saberhagen (May 18, 1930 – June 29, 2007) was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his ''Berserker'' series of science fiction short stories and novels. Saberhagen also wrote a series of vampire novels in ...

's Berserker series in the short story ''Patron of the Arts'' (first appeared in Worlds of If, Aug 1965), a human artist and a Berserker machine discuss the value of art and of this specific painting on a starship in the future after a space battle near the Sol system. In this short story, the Earth-Descended peoples place all of humanity's important artworks on an evacuation starship to preserve the works by sending them to Tau Epsilon. In

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

's 1971 novel A Happy Death, a character called Eliane, whom Patrice Meursault describes as an Idealist, thinks that she looks like the figure from the painting and even has various reproductions of the painting decorating her room.

Notes

References

* Rosand, David (1978). ''Titian''. Library of Great Painters. New York: Harry N. Abrams. 126–27.

External links

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at the

. {{Authority control Portraits by Titian 1520 paintings Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists Gonzaga art collection Portrait paintings in the Louvre