Portrait of a Man (Self-Portrait?), known as the Man in a Red Turban
1433 · Oil on oak panel · National Gallery, London
📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.
This print
About this work
- Artist
- Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441)
- Year
- 1433
- Medium
- Oil on oak panel
- Original size
- 27 × 19 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery, London
- Movement
- Northern Renaissance
A man of middle age, his face shown with unsparing detail down to the stubble and the bloodshot eyes, looks directly out from a dark ground, his head wrapped in a red chaperon whose long sash has been wound up into the shape of a turban. Jan van Eyck painted the small panel in Bruges in 1433. Its original frame carries his motto ALS ICH CAN, a pun on his own name, and at the bottom the words JOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT ANO MCCCC.33. 21. OCTOBRIS, Jan van Eyck made me on 21 October 1433. The prominence of the motto and the sitter's direct, close gaze have led many to see it as a self-portrait, hence the question mark in its title; it may have been a pendant to his portrait of his wife, dated 1439, in Bruges. The panel probably came to England with Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, during his exile in Antwerp in the 1640s, and has been in the National Gallery, London, since 1851, where it hangs near the Arnolfini Portrait.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A close, steady face beneath a crimson headdress against deep black, small and intense, for a study, library or hallway at 18×24 in black. A charcoal, oxblood or warm grey wall; it pairs with Self-Portrait with Two Circles.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Northern Renaissance painting
- Era
- 15th century (1433)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- intimate
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 18×24. Prints at 12×16, 18×24, 24×32 in — 12×16 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 18×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×32 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Portrait of a Man (Self-Portrait?), known as the Man in a Red Turban in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Portrait of a Man (Self-Portrait?), known as the Man in a Red Turban painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
