Rogier van der Weyden

Portrait of Francesco d'Este is a small oil on wood panel painting by the Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden dating to around 1460. The work is in good condition and has been in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, since 1931. When attributed as a van der Weyden in the early 20th century, there was much speculation amongst art historians as to the sitter's identity. He was identified as a member of the d'Este family from the crest on the reverse and long thought to be Francesco's father Lionello, an Italian and highly placed Burgundian prince and patron of Rogier. In 1939 Ernst Kantorowicz identified the man as Lionello's illegitimate son Francesco (c. 1430 – after 1475), which is now generally accepted. The panel was painted when the sitter was about 30 years old and is considered one of van der Weyden's finest portraits, in many ways a culmination of his later, more austere work. Van der Weyden sought to flatter d'Este; although not handsome, he is shown as broad-chested, with a sensitive and cultured face, keen expression, long neck and aquiline nose. The hammer and ring (the latter only revealed after a 1934 cleaning) clutched in his hand are likely intended as status...