Francesco d'Este

Rogier van der Weyden painted this portrait of Francesco d'Este around 1460, in Brussels. Francesco was an Italian nobleman, a member of the ruling family of Ferrara, and he was probably in the Netherlands on a diplomatic mission when he sat for Rogier. Francesco is shown in three-quarter view, his body turned slightly to the left, his face turned toward the viewer. He wears a dark red gown lined with fur and a black cap. His hands are not visible. He holds a small object, possibly a ring or a coin, in his right hand, visible at the lower edge of the panel. The background is a deep blue, flat and unadorned, which makes the figure stand out sharply. His face is carefully modeled, with the bones of his cheek and jaw visible under the skin, and his expression is guarded, neither friendly nor hostile. Rogier van der Weyden was the leading painter in Brussels in the mid-15th century, and his portraits were sought after by the Burgundian court and by visiting foreign dignitaries. He painted with a precision and a psychological intensity that set the standard for Netherlandish portraiture for the next generation. His influence spread to Italy, where Antonello da Messina adopted his three-quarter portrait format and his careful modeling of faces. The portrait is small, 12 by 9 inches, and it was probably painted as a personal memento rather than an official portrait. The ring in Francesco's hand may be a token of a betrothal or a diplomatic gift. The painting was cut down at some point in its history, losing the lower portion of the panel, and the hands are only partially visible. Oil on wood, 32 by 22 centimeters. Rogier painted with thin layers of oil over a white gesso ground, building the flesh tones in careful gradations of light and shadow. The surface is smooth and detailed, with individual hairs of the fur lining visible under close inspection. The blue background is painted in ultramarine, the most expensive pigment of the period, made from ground lapis lazuli. The small vertical format and intense portrait subject make this print work well in a study, hallway, or bedroom. The deep blue background and red gown pair with warm wood tones and cream walls. A dark wood frame suits the painting's 15th-century origin. The 11x14 or 12x16 size gives the face enough detail to appreciate up close. The painting came to the Met through the Jules Bache Collection in 1949. This is a public domain artwork (CC0), scanned from the original at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.