Skip Navigation

Portrait of a Man (Portrait d'homme)

Edgar Degas

European Art

In this enigmatic painting, an unidentified man in modern bourgeois attire sits in a chair among cuts of meat. A platter bearing sausage and a bloody, freshly carved pig’s trotter rests on the cloth-covered table, and what appears to be a rib roast sits on another platter (or is it an artist’s palette?) on the floor. Midway between these two plates of dead animal flesh are the man’s clasped hands, which reinforce the melancholic mood of his partly shadowed face. Behind him hangs another cloth partially covering some indecipherable images (perhaps meat?) in a frame on the wall.

It has been suggested that the scene depicts a butcher’s shop, a restaurant, or, more likely, an artist in his studio—a theme that Edgar Degas explored in numerous works. A disquieting combination of portraiture and still life, the image thwarts easy explanation.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
  • Place Made: France
  • DATES ca. 1866
    DIMENSIONS 34 x 25 1/2 in. (86.4 x 64.8 cm) Frame: 44 3/4 x 36 1/4 x 4 5/8 in. (113.7 x 91.4 x 12.1 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Stamped lower right: "Degas" (Lugt 658)
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 21.112
    CREDIT LINE Museum Collection Fund
    PROVENANCE May 6-7, 1918, purchased from the artist’s estate at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, France, no. 36 by Jacques Seligmann of Paris; between 1918 and 1921, provenance not yet documented; January 27, 1921, purchased at American Art Association, New York, NY, "The Notable Private Collection of Paintings & Pastels by the Great French Master Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas" no. 35 by the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Edgar Degas (Paris, France, 1834–1917, Paris, France). Portrait of a Man (Portrait d'homme), ca. 1866. Oil on canvas, 34 x 25 1/2 in. (86.4 x 64.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 21.112 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 21.112_PS9.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 21.112_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
    This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.