Artwork
Triple Portrait of a Goldsmith (Bartolomeo Carpan?)
Triple Portrait of a Goldsmith (Bartolomeo Carpan?) is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Lorenzo Lotto. It dates from 1530 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Overview
Lorenzo Lotto’s oil on canvas, dated to around 1530, presents a single figure from three perspectives—frontal, profile, and rear view—each rendered at half‑length. The work resides in Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it has been recorded since at least the early eighteenth century.
Subject & Meaning
The three depictions portray a bearded man in dark attire, his left hand bearing a ring and his right hand holding a small box. The object, clarified during a mid‑twentieth‑century restoration, is a ring‑box, supporting the identification of the sitter as a goldsmith, likely Bartolomeo Carpan, a contemporary associate of the artist.
Technique & Style
Lotto employs chiaroscuro to model the figure, contrasting illuminated facial features with a deep, uniform background. The tight brushwork and careful rendering of textures—especially the sheen of the metal ring and the soft folds of the garments—enhance the three‑dimensional illusion across the three panels.
History & Provenance
Initially misattributed to Titian, the painting was later linked to Lotto through inventory records describing a triple portrait of a goldsmith. In 1627 it entered the collection of Vincenzo II Gonzaga, who sold it to Charles I of England. After the king’s execution, the work was auctioned to Philip IV of Spain and eventually passed into the Habsburg holdings, arriving in Vienna by the 1730s.
Context
The composition follows a tradition of medieval triple portraits and echoes Leonardo da Vinci’s now‑lost triple portrait of Cesare Borgia. Lotto’s version, in turn, influenced later works such as van Dyck’s “Charles I in Three Positions” (1635–36), demonstrating the enduring appeal of multi‑view portraiture in the seventeenth century.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Renaissance painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He…
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