Neroccio di Bartolommeo de'Landi (Siena, 1447 - 1500, Siena)
A Hero of Antiquity, about 1500
Tempera on panel, 85.7 x 52.7 cm (33 3/4 x 20 3/4 in.)
This vertical tempera painting is a standing portrait of a light-skinned young soldier with a landscape in the distance. The figure stands front and center and holds a confident pose with his left hand on his hip and his right hip thrust out. He holds a sword pointed to the ground with his right hand. He is dressed in military garb, with gold-colored armored sleeves over both shoulders to his elbows, a skirt of armor over his hips, and kneepads of armor on both knees. He wears a brown suede tunic with gold buttons, leggings, and red boots. A winged burgundy hat tops his long brown hair. Behind the figure, a sloping green meadow surrounds a lake, and is dotted with green bushes. To our right is a cropped view of a stone structure, and in the far distance, a faint tower is visible. The sky is a pale shade of blue.
Raphael Room
Commentary
This painting is part of a group of images of ancient heroes that were set into the walls of a Renaissance interior. With the ornate costumes, rakish pose (one hip thrust out), and long hair, the figures merge classical heroes with fashionable young men of Renaissance Italy. The Renaissance enthusiasm for such heroic figures may be found in other works in this gallery. Look for Romans with drawn swords in The Story of Lucretia and the figure of Saint George battling a dragon.