Focus on Portrait of Bernhart von Reesen and explore the Background and details.
The painting was executed during the artist's trip to the Low Countries in the period 1520–1521. On 16 March 1521, Dürer wrote in his diary that he had portrayed in Antwerp one Bernhart von Reesen, for which he was paid eight florins and some small gifts for his wife and maid.The sitter is portrayed wearing black garments and a white shirt. His hands, which, according to the Flemish painting tradition, are cut off on the lower border, hold a small piece of paper with writing on it.  Dürer's portrait mixes traits of Netherlandish portraiture tradition with the Venetian tradition.The sitter is shown in three-quarter profile set against a red background.  The portrait which shows the sitter from close up accentuates the bright face and the large beret. The face is angular but softened through delicate modelling.  Von Reesen is depicted as powerful and confident but his gaze turned to the left in the distance gives his pose at the same time a contemplative quality. The composition is dominated by diagonal lines which give the portrait an intense quality.
Antwerp florins Flemish painting Low Countries