Portrait of an African Man (Christophle le More?)

• Portrait of an African Man
• Portrait of an African Man (Christophle le More?)

SK-A-4986

This is the only known portrait of a black man in early European painting. He may have served at the Brussels court of Emperor Charles V, who had a black archer called Christophle le More among his bodyguards. The badge of the Virgin on his cap is a souvenir of a pilgrimage to Halle (Brabant), a favourite destination of pilgrims from the Brussels court.

J.P. Filedt Kok, "Portret van een Afrikaanse man", Bulletin van de Vereniging Rembrandt 15 (2005), nr. 2, p. 8-11.

[rejected]

c. 1525 - c. 1530

olieverf op paneel

• 30.8 cm x 21.2 cm
• 30 cm x 20.3 cm

Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, with additional funding from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Mondriaan Stichting, the VSBfonds, the BankGiro Lottery and the Rijksmuseum Fonds

Public domain

…; the dealer T. Harris, London, 1920;{Friedländer on photo, RKD, no. 27581} …; Dr Hans Wendland, Lugano, 1924;{Friedländer on photo, RKD, no. 27581}...; the dealer Galerie Fischer, Luzern, 1924;{Friedländer on photo, RKD, no. 27581} ...; dealer, Galerie Fischer, Luzern, 1924;{Friedländer on photo, RKD, no. 27581} from whom to Sir Thomas D. Barlow G.B.F. (1883-1964), London, 1934;{Manchester 1968, p. 20, no. 8} his son, Basil Stephen Barlow (1918-91), London;{Manchester 1968, p. 20, no. 8} from his heirs on loan to Kenwood House, London, 1998-2003;{Filedt Kok/De Winkel 2005, p. 406} from whom, through Simon C. Dickinson Ltd, London, to the dealer R. Noortman, Maastricht, 2004;{Filedt Kok/De Winkel 2005, p. 406} from whom, € 600,000, to the museum, with support from the Vereniging Rembrandt, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Mondriaan Stichting, the VSBfonds, the Stichting Rijksmuseum and the BankGiro Loterij, 2005

Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

• J.P. Filedt Kok, "Portret van een Afrikaanse man", Bulletin van de Vereniging Rembrandt 15 (2005), nr. 2, p. 8-11.
• J.A. Goris, Études sur les colonies marchandes méridionales (portugais, espagnols, italiens) à Anvers de 1488 à 1567 : contribution à l'histoire des débuts du capitalisme moderne, Leuven 1925.
• Kunsthandel Fischer, 'Die Altniederländische Malerei', 1934, Deel X, p. 123, no. 30.
• E. Schreuder, 'Who is this man?', op: http://estherschreuder.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/who-is-this-man/
• E. van de Boogaard, 'Een portretwaardige slaaf', De Groene Amsterdammer (05-08-2005), p. 22-24.
• J. Vencken, 'Hoogtepunten uit 600 jaar Mariaprocessie te Halle', Hallensia drie-maandelijks Bulletin van de Koninklijke Geschied- en Oudheidkundige Kring van Halle (april-september 1999).
• H.P. Bremmer, 'Beeldende Kunst', 24 (1936), afl. 9, p. 70, nr. 70.
• 'Aanwinsten', Jaarverslag Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (2005), p. 52-53 met afb.
• K. Posner en Robert van Langh [red.], Supporting Conservation : Four projects funded by Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds, Amsterdam 2015, p. 57, afb. 40.
• M. J. Friedländer, Von van Eyck bis Bruegel : Studien zur Geschichte der niederländischen Malerei, Berlijn 1921, p. 200.
• F. Winkler, 'Zur Kenntnis und Würdigung des Jan Mostaert', Zeitschrift für Kunstwissenschaft 13 (1959), p. 177-214.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20015053