''Portrait of a Commander'' or ''A Commander Being Dressed for Battle'' is a portrait of an unknown man in

plate armour Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, ...

, by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...

. In July 2010 it was sold for £9 million by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, t ...

after

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

turned it down, suspecting its authenticity as a Rubens. In December 2011, the portrait was placed on loan with the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

in New York.

Description

The painting, done in

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

on panel, measures 48.25 × 38 3/8 in. (122.6 × 98.2 cm). It depicts a military commander, as shown by his

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club * Baton (law enforcement) * Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conduct ...

, being dressed by

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young ma ...

s. The identity of the commander is unknown, although

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infant ...

Cornelis van der Geest Cornelis van der Geest (1555 – 10 March 1638) was a spice merchant from Antwerp, who used his wealth to support the Antwerp artists and to establish his art collection. He was also the dean of the haberdashers guild. Art collection He is best kn ...

, and the

Duke of Alba Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by G ...

have all been identified as possible subjects. The Christie's cataloguer felt that the commander appears too idealized to be an actual person. The painting has been praised for its crisp and intense hue and the reflective properties of the armour. If by Rubens, it would have been painted around 1613.

History

The

provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...

of the work before 1802 is uncertain, with Christie's adding "(possibly)" to almost every paragraph in their description, until it came into the possession of

George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, (1 September 1758 – 10 November 1834), styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician. He served as Home Secretary from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was ...

by 1802. After that it remained the property of the Spencer family until 2010, when

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, (born 20 May 1964), styled Viscount Althorp between 1975 and 1992, is a British peer, author, journalist, and broadcaster. He is the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and is the mater ...

, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, decided to auction it with nearly 800 other artworks not deemed core to the

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of ...

collection in order to raise funds for restoration work at the estate. It was sold at the lower end of the Christie's estimate of between £8m and £12m to

Konrad Bernheimer Konrad Otto Bernheimer (born 30 August 1950) is a German Venezuelan art dealer and collector. He is the chairman and owner of Bernheimer Fine Old Masters in Munich, and was the owner of Colnaghi in London. He sold Colnaghi to the Spanish dealers ...

for £9 million ($13.7 million). This is the second highest price ever paid for Rubens' work at auction, after the '' Massacre of the Innocents'', now in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, which was sold at Sotheby's in London on 10 July 2002, for £49.5 million to Canadian businessman and art collector

Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet Kenneth Roy Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet (September 1, 1923 – June 12, 2006), known in Canada as Ken Thomson, was a Canadian/British businessman and art collector. At the time of his death, he was listed by ''Forbes'' as the richest per ...

. (press release)

Authenticity

For more than 100 years, it was attributed to the "School of Porbus". It was not attributed to Rubens until after World War II. According to

Brian Sewell Brian Alfred Christopher Bushell Sewell (; 15 July 1931 – 19 September 2015) was an English art critic. He wrote for the ''Evening Standard'' and had an acerbic view of conceptual art and the Turner Prize. ''The Guardian'' described him as ...

, it is an "uncomfortable Rubens" and the attribution "doesn't quite ring true". A panel of academics employed by Christie's examined the portrait and ultimately concluded that the painting is a genuine Rubens. File:Willem van Haecht - The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest, 1628.jpg, ''The Gallery of

'', by

Willem van Haecht Willem van Haecht (1593 – 12 July 1637) was a Flemish painter best known for his pictures of art galleries and collections. Life Willem van Haecht was born in Antwerp as the son of the landscape painter Tobias Verhaecht. Tobias Verhaecht w ...

shows this painting hanging on the rear wall.

References

{{Authority control Portraits by Peter Paul Rubens Military art Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art