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Case study

Conserving the Man in Red

Examine one of the most enigmatic paintings in the Royal Collection

Detail from the portrait 'Man in red', showing his capped head
This painting is one of the most enigmatic sixteenth century portraits in the Royal Collection. It is a visually arresting image: painted full-length, nearly two metres tall, the man is silhouetted against an apparently imaginary landscape with the sugges

Portrait of a Man in Red ©

This painting is one of the most enigmatic sixteenth century portraits in the Royal Collection.

It is a visually arresting image: painted full-length, nearly two metres tall, the man is silhouetted against an apparently imaginary landscape with the suggestion of buildings and ruins on the left and curious rock formations on the right.

In the two years in the lead up to its display in the exhibition In Fine Style, the painting underwent conservation treatment at the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge.

Treatment involved stabilising and rejoining a crack in the panel as well as removing later layers of overpaint and heavily discoloured varnish. Technical analysis has enabled us to learn more about when and where the painting was made.  Read on to find out more

Related exhibition
In Fine Style

Traces changing tastes in fashionable attire in Great Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Objects featured in this study

Find out more in our Collection Online

German/Netherlandish School, 16th century
Portrait of a Man in Red c. 1530-50
  • Haunted Gallery, Hampton Court Palace
RCIN 405752

This painting is one of the most enigmatic sixteenth century portraits in the Royal Collection. It is a visually arresting image: painted full-length, nearly two metres tall, the man is silhouetted against an apparently imaginary landscape with the suggestion of buildings and ruins on the left and curious rock formations on the right. Sixteenth-century...

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