''The Knight in Black'' is an oil on canvas portrait painting of an unknown male subject by

Giovanni Battista Moroni Giovanni Battista Moroni ( – 5 February 1579) was an Italian painter of the Late Renaissance period. He also is called Giambattista Moroni. Best known for his elegantly realistic portraits of the local nobility and clergy, he is conside ...

, from ''c.'' 1567. It is held in the

Museo Poldi Pezzoli The Museo Poldi Pezzoli is an art museum in Milan, Italy. It is located near the Teatro alla Scala, on Via Manzoni 12. The museum was originated in the 19th century as a private collection of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli (1822–1879) and his m ...

, in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

History

The first written reference to the work shows it was probably in Secco Suardo's collection with other portraits produced for his family by the same artist. At the end of the 18th century, it was still in the family, namely with Caterina Terzi Secco Suardo in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

, shortly before passing to Barbara Secco Suardo Mosconi of the same city and then to the latter's husband Giovanni Mosconi. In 1845 it was left to the Moroni counts in Bergamo, before being acquired by Luciano Scotti, son of Giulia Casanova and Annibale Scotti. In 1952 it was moved to Milan, where it remained for ten years before being donated to its present owner.

Description and analysis

As in many other portraits by Moroni of the same time, the subject of the painting is anonymous. He seems to be from the nobility, because of his fine clothing, has a beard and is portrayed standing, life-sized, dressed in black according to the fashion of the time, refined even more by a curled white collar. He has one hand holding the hilt of the sword tied at his waist, while the other hand is on his chest. The clothing has an extraordinary drapery, specially adequated for the composition which is based on a single colour. He wears a black hat on his head, decorated with an elegant and light black feather that stands out diaphanously in the background. ''Giovanni Battista Moroni. Il Cavaliere in nero. L'immagine del gentiluomo nel Cinquecento'', exhibition catalogue, Milano, 2005 The man is portrayed while looking straight at the viewer, with a confident attitude. He is probably inserted in the context of a house, with the presence of a gray background with pilasters, on which his shadow is also hinted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight in Black, The 1567 paintings 16th-century portraits Portraits of men Paintings by Giovanni Battista Moroni Paintings in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli