From 17 May until 25 September 2022, Hall 11 (Second Floor) at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum will hold a special installation devoted to the results of the restoration of the Young Knight in a Landscape by Vittore Carpaccio, one of the art gallery’s most emblematic works.
The restored painting is presented alongside a video that explains the work undertaken and the results obtained from the technical study that accompanies the monograph. Analysis of the materials, X-rays, reflectographs and other research techniques have provided a detailed study of the painting, along with the interpretation of the artist’s creative process and working method.
Young Knight in a Landscape is one of the most famous works at the Thyssen-Bornemisza. It came from the Vernon-Wentworth collection in Yorkshire (United Kingdom), where it remained until 1919, and was attributed to Dürer due to the minute detail in which the flowers and vegetation are painted.
It dates back to 1505 and the motto, Malo mori quam foedari (better to die than be defiled), placed beside a weasel suggests that he may be an unidentified knight of the Order of the Ermine.
The oil painting was auctioned at Christie’s in London in November 1919, under the title of Saint Eustace, and it was later acquired by Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. In 1958, the canvas had to be restored, during which the artist’s signature, date and motto were discovered.
Vittore Carpaccio was a 15th century painter born in Venice (Italy) who features prominently in 15th and 16th century painting. Influenced by the portraitists, Gentile Bellini and Antonello da Messina, his best known works are Two Venetian Ladies, Two Courtesans, Hunting on the Lagoon or The Legend of St. Ursula.
Image Credit:
Young Knight in a Landscape. Vittore Carpaccio (c.1505). Oil on Canvas. 218.5 x 151.5 cm. © Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid
