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Probably by Gentile Bellini, 'A Man with a Pair of Dividers (?)', about 1500

About the work

Overview

This portrait is probably by Gentile Bellini, though we can‘t be sure. It’s unusual among his portraits – we don’t know the identity of the sitter and most of Gentile’s surviving portraits are of well-known figures. It was once thought to be the mathematician Girolamo Malatini because he holds a pair of dividers (a compass).

Malatini is said to have taught Giovanni Bellini, Gentile’s brother, and Carpaccio, another Venetian painter, how to incorporate theories of perspective into their paintings. But it was not only mathematicians who used compasses – artists and architects, among other professionals, did too. An alternative suggestion is that Gentile has painted Giovanni.

Like many of Gentile’s portraits, the background is very dark so that the sitter’s face stands out, as do his hands. The lack of detail is unusual in a work by Gentile, who usually took great pains to express the qualities of varying surfaces in paint and enjoyed painting different kinds of materials and jewels.

Key facts

Details

Full title
A Man with a Pair of Dividers (?)
Artist
Probably by Gentile Bellini
Artist dates
active about 1460; died 1507
Date made
about 1500
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
69.2 × 59.1 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1886
Inventory number
NG1213
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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