Learned Man of Antiquity
Artist
Giovanni de Lutero (Dosso Dossi)
(Italian, 1486 - 1542)
CultureItalian
Dateca. 1540
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions57 × 46 3/4 in. (144.8 × 118.7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 67 × 55 3/4 × 4 in. (170.2 × 141.6 × 10.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 67 × 55 3/4 × 4 in. (170.2 × 141.6 × 10.2 cm)
InscribedSigned "TITIANUS P." in golden letters, at the right.
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.641
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. A man, nude waist up, holds a clay tablet with numbers written on it. His face is in profile as he looks to the left side of the canvas. His right hand holds a red skirt/drapery.Label TextGiovanni de Lutero, called Dosso Dossi Italian, ca. 1490–1542 Learned Man of Antiquity, ca. 1540 Oil on canvas This man’s extended arm may seem awkward, but when installed high on the wall it would have looked well proportioned, an effect called foreshortening. Dosso Dossi painted the figure for a private library as part of a series that likely represented the liberal arts—like grammar, logic, music, and astronomy—in human form. The mysterious numerical symbols on the tablet held by this man suggest he represents arithmetic. Installed in a library, it would have conveyed the ideal of learning as a noble pursuit. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.641 ProvenanceMassarenti, Rome; Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Dec. 2, 1967 - May 15, 1968. (Exhib. cat. no. 7). "Dosso Dossi," Palazzo dei Diamanti Sept. 27 - Dec. 14, 1998; The Metropolitan Museum of Art Jan. 11 - Mar 29, 1999; The J. Paul Getty Museum Apr. 27 - July 11, 1999. “Ancient and Modern Scholars: Dosso and Battista Dossi in the Libraria of Prince Bishop Bernardo Cles,” Castello del Buonconsiglio, Trento, IT, July 1 – October 22, 2023.Published ReferencesRobert L. Manning. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR. Norfolk: Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science. 1967. No. 7, p. 11. Felton Gibbons. _Dosso and Battista Dossi: Court Painters at Ferrara_. Princeton, 1968, pp. 192-193, no. 49. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Italian Art - Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century," _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum. 1987. No. 14, p. 6. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, 1991, p. 9, #8. Peter Humfrey and Mauro Lucco. _Dosso Dossi Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara_. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 1998: p. 138-144, color ill. p. 141, fig. 22c. David de Witt, _The Bader Collection: European Paintings_ (Kingston, Ontario: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, 2014) 54, fig. 16b. Laura Dal Prà and Vincenzo Farinella, _I Volti della Sapienza: Dosso e Battista Dossi nella biblioteca di Bernardo Cles_ (Rome: Officina Libraria with Castello del Buonconsiglio, 2023) 264, cat. no. 29.
