Giovanni Battista Moroni
, Italian, c.1521/24-1579/80
Title
Portrait of a Gentleman and his two ChildrenDatec.1572-1575
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
125.3 x 98 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1866
Object numberNGI.105
DescriptionThis is a very intimate portrait showing a father protectively embracing his two children. The identity of the adult sitter is unknown, but traditionally he was presumed to be a widower. Despite the absence of a mother in what appears to be a family portrait, there is little evidence to sustain that suggestion today. Even the sober black dress of the man is not definitive proof of his mourning, since such dark attire was commonly worn in the sixteenth century. The letters on the table, though for the most part illegible, may hint at the subject’s identity: they address a man titled ‘Mag’ (Magnifico), indicating a recipient of high social status, and mention the place name ‘Albino’, where Moroni was born. Though the two children wear long, colourful skirts, the younger figure may be a boy who has not yet reached the age to be ‘breeched’ (to wear trousers), which generally took place at six or seven years old.Although Moroni carried out a number of attractive altarpieces in northern Italy, his true skill was in portraiture. He painted noblemen, prelates, scholars and ladies of every age. The artist was praised for centuries for his ritratti di naturale, or portraits from life, where sitters were all depicted with great likeness, without idealisation and often with a psychological intensity that imbues the paintings with a meditative aspect. Moroni generally portrayed single figures, and this rare work is the only known triple-portrait by the artist.
ProvenanceGiuseppe Finetti, dealer and painter, Bergamo, 1835; Sir John Hawley, England; Christie’s, London, 14 May, 1858, lot 32, bt. by unknown; purchased, London, by National Gallery of Ireland, 1866.Exhibition HistoryExhibition of Works by the Old Masters, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1884
Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964
Giovanni Battista Moroni, 400th Anniversary Exhibition, National Gallery, London, 1978
The Genius of Venice, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1983-1984
Master European Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 6 June - 9 August 1992; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 19 September - 6 December 1992; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 13 January - 28 March 1993; IBM Gallery, New York, 27 April - 26 June 1993
Sofonisba Anguissola e le sue sorelle, Centro culturale 'Città di Cremona' Santa Maria della Pietà, Cremona, 17 September - 11 December 1994; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna, January - March 1995; The National Museum of Women in Arts, Washington, April - June 1995
Titien, Le Pouvoir en Face, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, 13 September 2006 - 21 January 2007
Art and Love in Renaissance Italy, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 10 November 2008 - 15 February 2009; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 15 March - 14 June 2009
Giovanni Battista Moroni, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 25 October 2014 - 25 January 2015
Moroni: The Riches of Renaissance Portraiture, The Frick Collection, New York, 21 February 2019 - 02 June 2019
Moroni (1521 - 1580) A Portrait of his Time, Gallerie d'Italia Piazza Scala, Milan, 6 December 2023 - 1 April 2024
Label TextA father, elegantly dressed in black with a narrow white ruff, protectively embraces his two children. Although the identities of the subjects of this portrait are unknown, the letters on the table perhaps provide a clue. They
address a man titled ‘Mag’ (Magnifico), indicating a recipient of high social status, and the place name ‘Albino’ is clearly legible, a town in north Italy and the artist’s birthplace. This enigmatic work is the only triple-portrait ever painted by Moroni, who was famous for his skill in capturing naturalistic likenesses of his sitters.