Skip to content

An image of Portrait of a gentleman with a falcon by Nicolò dell'Abate
Alternate image of Portrait of a gentleman with a falcon by Nicolò dell'Abate

Nicolò dell'Abate

(Italy circa 1509–circa 1571)

Title
Portrait of a gentleman with a falcon
Other titles:
Portrait of a gentleman, half length, wearing a black coat with grey sleeves and a hat, a falcon perched on his finger
Year
circa 1548-circa 1550
Media category
Painting
Materials used
oil on canvas
Dimensions

107.5 x 84.5cm stretcher; 139.5 x 117.0 x 8.0cm frame

Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation Purchase 1991
Accession number
167.1991
Location
15th–19th c European art
Further information

Nicolo dell' Abate was an Emilian painter active in Modena, Bologna and ultimately the Fontainebleau of Henry II of France, where he worked with his compatriot, the equally gifted Primaticcio. He was associated with, rather than central to, the mannerist movement which was virtually a European court style in the first half of the sixteenth century. It was in the newly independent genre of landscape that dell' Abate made his most enduring contribution to the history of Western art. His classically inspired landscapes are staffed by elegant figures and typified by pastoral themes pre-empting those of Poussin and Claude. In portraiture dell' Abate was a canny observer of the interior life of his subjects, managing to suggest something of the uniqueness of their psychology. The north Italian aristocrat portrayed here has an almost indecisive air at odds with his masterful pose and sporty regalia. Dell' Abate clearly empathised with this equivocal quality, which he so subtly translates into paint.

AGNSW Handbook, 1999.

Provenance (3)

William Bowmore (Australia, b.1909), 1975?-19 Jul 1991, Sydney/New South Wales/Australia, Purchased by the AGNSW from William Bowmore 1991. This painting was offered for sale at Christie's London, 9 December 1988 'Important Old Master Pictures', but did not sell.

Agnew's, London (England, estab. 1817), 1971-1975?, London/England, by 1971, exhibited in 'Old masters - recent acquisitions' 2 November - 10 December 1971

Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi (Italy, b.1878, d.1955), Florence/Italy, [dealer]

Bibliography (13)

'Foundation building' by Michael Wardell, pg.14-17, Look Sep 2004, Sep 2004, 15.

Rodolfo Pallucchini (Author), Sebastian Viniziano, 1944, 170. plate no. 75. Entered as 'Sebastiano del Piombo c.1530-33'.

Review of Palluchini's "Sebastiano Viniziano" by Johannes Wilde, The Burlington Magazine 1946, 1946.

Bernard Berenson (Author), Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Venetian School, 1957, 163. Entered as 'Sebastiano del Piombo'.

Agnew's, London (England, estab. 1817) (Author), Old Masters - Recent Acquisitions, 1971, (illus.). cat.no. 16. Entered as 'Sebastiano del Piombo'.

Agnew's, London (England, estab. 1817) (Author), Master Paintings. Recent Acquisitions, 1975, (illus.). cat.no. 21

M. Lucco (Author), L'opera completa di Sebastiano del Piombo, 1980, (llus.). cat.no. 183

Author Unknown (Author), Splendour of the Baroque: Painting in Bologna from 1550 to 1750, Sydney, 1993, 3, 4 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Great gifts, great patrons: an exhibition celebrating private patronage of the Gallery, Sydney, 1994. no catalogue numbers

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 114 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation Annual Report 1997 1997, 1997, 17 (colour illus.).

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 23 (colour illus.).

Ron Radford (Australia, b.1949) (Curator), The Fine Art of Giving: 90 Masterpieces from the William Bowmore Collection, Adelaide, 1999, 38, 39 (colour illus.), 73. cat.no. 5

Exhibition history (6)

Old Masters - Recent Acquistions, Agnew's, London, 02 Nov 1971–10 Dec 1971.

Master Paintings. Recent Acquistions, Agnew's, London, 29 May 1975–04 Jul 1975.

Splendour of the Baroque: Painting from Bologna 1550 to 1750, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 21 May 1993–18 Jul 1993.

Splendour of the Baroque: Painting from Bologna 1550 to 1750, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 20 Sep 1993–31 Oct 1993.

Great gifts, great patrons, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 17 Aug 1994–19 Oct 1994.

The Fine Art of Giving: 90 Masterpieces from the William Bowmore Collection, Art Gallery of South Australia, 02 Nov 1999–01 Apr 2000.