Portrait of a Man

We do not know who this man in the black cap is. In 1772 an inventory of the picture gallery in Vienna listed a portrait of Johann Gossart painted by himself, and for a while it was tempting to think this panel was that self-portrait. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is careful here. It is not certain that the old entry meant this picture at all.

The better clue is on his hand. He wears a gold signet ring with a clearly visible monogram, the kind of seal a man of standing pressed into wax to close a letter. Whoever he was, his initials were meant to be read. So far nobody has managed to decipher them. The panel is small, about 40 centimetres high, painted on oak around 1520 to 1525, and its upper corners were added later. It is recorded in the Vienna gallery from 1783.