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Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen (Flemish, 1500–1559). Jean de Carondelet, circa 1530. Oil on panel, 30 3/4 x 24 1/2 in. (78.10 x 62.23 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Horace O. Havemeyer, 47.76
Vermeyen served the imperial Habsburg courts of Margaret of Austria and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, earning renown for skilled portraits such as this one of the influential cleric and statesman Jean de Carondelet (1469–1545). Displaying masterly naturalism in his treatment of Carondelet's dignified countenance, Vermeyen captures the wide-set, staring eyes, high cheekbones, broad nose, and dour mouth. The painter also pays attention to the texture of Carondelet's bushy white hair as well as the soft sheen of his fur collar. Vermeyen unexpectedly enlivens this massive, taciturn figure by energizing the hands: while one hand firmly grasps a pair of gray leather gloves, the other contorts into an enigmatic but imperious gesture.
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum