Jacopo Robusti, called Jacopo Tintoretto

Henry Reginald Corbet (d. 1945), Adderley Hall, Shropshire, by 1895.

London, Royal Academy, Winter Exhibition, 7 January-16 March 1895, no. 103 (`Tintoretto.  Portrait of a Venetian Senator').

A. Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions, London 1914, vol. III, p. 1314.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting had a strong, fairly tough old lining, and an older stretcher. The old varnishes may also date back some time, largely maybe from any preparation for the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1895. An older strip (about three centimetre wide) seems to have been added earlier down the right edge, and the top and base edges have narrow bands of retouching, with the original tacking edge apparently opened out and retouched down the left edge. Lines of craquelure near the top and base edges, apparently too wide for a stretcher bar, suggest they might perhaps once have been folded back early in life, although without any other damage. Near the lower left edge in the background a knock has been retouched, a few centimetres wide. Occasional damages in the upper background include one fairly recent unretouched little knock at upper centre right. Patches of broadly spread old repaint can be seen in places on both sides of the figure in the upper background, of the sort liable to be added freely in the past at times, widely over incidental damage and original paint almost equally. There does however seem to have been a quite long winding tear in the left background, with briefer old knocks on the right. The surface texture has been smoothed forward in past linings, with crests of the characteristically thick canvas weave rubbed. The darks throughout tend to be more worn, with some thinner streaks of wear in the lower centre of the black drapery. There is occasional strengthening in parts of the thinner beard and hair. The lighter areas of the head and hands, and the splashes of light in the ermine fur, are far better preserved, and although the impasto has naturally not survived, much of the modelling in these parts largely has, ensuring the overall effectiveness of the image. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

We are grateful to Andrew John Martin for confirming the attribution following first-hand inspection. 

Portraiture always played an important part in Tintoretto's oeuvre, whether in the form of independent portrait, as seen here, or portraits inserted into larger religious or historical narratives.  Tintoretto's talents as a portraitist were well recognised both during his lifetime and in subsequent centuries.  He was popular amongst the Venetian noble and merchant classes not only for his ability to depict individual facial types but also for his skill in capturing the sumptuous details of dress that were so important in 16^th century Venice.  Here one can see how he has carefully rendered the ermine trim of his sitter's robe and thus drawn attention to his sitter's rank and wealth.