Bust of a Man

This sensitive portrait of an unknown man stands as one of the most dignified 17th-century European representations of an African person. It is the only secular work known to have been sculpted by Melchior Barthel. The bust exemplifies the artist’s mastery of flamboyant carving and bold color contrast. The sculpture was made in Venice when Barthel created a series of four colossal African figures for the tomb of Doge Giovanni Pesaro (1589–1659). Bending beneath the enormous weight of the ensemble, the tomb figures are dehumanized as they perform the load-bearing role of inanimate architecture.

It has long been assumed that Bust of a Man records the likeness of a model who posed for Pesaro’s tomb. Or it might be a head study for which the artist used dark-hued marble to depict a generalized—yet idealized—African man. Whatever the intent, the bust is different in character from the figures on the tomb.