Portrait of a Man in Armor

ArtistFollower of Giovanni Battista Moroni (Italian, 1520/24–1578)

Date1563

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions100 3/8 x 63 3/4 in. (255 x 161.9 cm)
Frame: 116 x 79 x 4 in. (294.6 x 200.7 x 10.2 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Object numberGL.60.17.46

On View

Not on view

Collections

ProvenanceCreated in Brescia in the second half of the sixteenth century; Lord Stalbridge, London; Richard de Aquila Grosvenor, 1st Baron Stalbridge (1837-1912); Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Stalbridge (1880-1949); [Christie’s, Manson & Woods, London, May 3, 1929, lot 44, sold as Moroni]; [Thomas Permain, Esq.] [1]; William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), San Francisco, New York, San Simeon, May 31, 1929, S/B lot 164 [2]; [Hearst sale “Art Objects and Furnishings from the William Randolph Hearst Collection” presented by Saks Fifth Avenue in collaboration with Gimbel Brothers under the direction of Hammer Galleries, 1941; lot 164-1]; [Gimbel Bros., Inc., November 30, 1942, sales ticket no. 525]; [Max B. Berman, New York]; [French & Co., New York, December 5, 1944 to stock no. 77274/9] [3]; sold December 7, 1949 to Samuel H. Kress Collection, New York, K1687 [4]; gift December 9, 1961 of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to the North Carolina Museum of Art, no. GL.60.17.46.

[1] Annotated sale catalogue lists buyer as “Permain”. Listed as E. Permain, Esq. in Kress records https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2954, but probably refers to the London art dealer Thomas Permain, who sold manuscripts to W. Randolph Heart: https://mssprovenance.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-beauvais-missal-new-piece-of.html.

[2] William Randolph Hearst Archive, B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library, LIU Post: S/B (Southern Boulevard warehouse, Bronx) lot 164, Article 1, Album 22 (Miscellaneous paintings), p. 14. See microfiche 88 and digitized Hearst acquisition record at https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AWSS35953_35953_43759411;prevRouteTS=1669948817323 and William Randolph Hearst Archive, S/B lot 164, Album 19, p. 34b, https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AWSS35953_35953_43775395;prevRouteTS=1669949775259. According to one inventory card, Nash’s Magazine purchased the painting “5/31/29.” Because the card also says “Lot #44” under “their reference no.,” the date probably should read 5/3/29, the date of the Stalbridge sale. The card also indicates that the painting was located at San Simeon, having been shipped to San Francisco 1/17/1930 by American Express. The painting was transferred December 1, 1937 to American Newspapers, Inc., another Hearst property.

[3] French & Co. records at GRI. Berman consigned a number of works to French & Co. in 1944, including other works that had come from the Hearst collection. The painting was on loan from French & Co. to the Los Angeles Museum [forerunner to LACMA] from 1 October 1946 until 1948. The card is annotated “2-25-53 Dr. Valentiner says Item 1 [Moroni] returned [to owner] in 1948.”

[4] On loan to Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1950–1953.