| Paris Bordone painted the "Portrait of Nikolaus Körbler" in the 1530s. Körbler (1495–1541) came from a respected, prosperous merchant family, known to have been in Judenburg since the late fifteenth century. He traded on a considerable scale in medicinal and fragrant plants, and also vitriol for which Venice was a major trans-shipment centre. Charles V rewarded him for his services to the imperial army by raising him to the nobility on 20 November 1532, probably the occasion for commissioning this picture from Paris Bordone, whose earliest dated painting this is. Bordone presents the merchant in simple clothing. The subject’s pose and contemplative manner place him in the line of Titian’s portraits from the 1520s. Bordone used muted colours that combined to create a harmonious atmosphere. Through soft modelling, certain graphic details stand out and create emphasis. |
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