The Tailor, by Giovanni Moroni

Giovanni Battista Moroni (c.1520-78) was a painter, mostly of portraits, who worked in the northern Italian cities of Brescia, Bergamo, Trento and Albino. His early works were mainly full-length lifesize portraits of local noblemen, but in his later years, spent mostly in his birth town of Albino, he developed a more intimate style in which the aim was not to glorify the sitter but to convey their personality. “The Tailor”, dating from around 1570, falls into the latter category.

The painting, which measures about 39 by 30 inches (100 by 77 cm), shows the subject standing at his workbench with his shears in one hand and a piece of dark cloth in the other. He is a youngish man, possibly in his mid-thirties, so he is well established in his trade and has the look of a confident professional businessman. He has clearly come far enough in his career to afford to have his portrait painted by such an eminent artist.

As a tailor, the subject clearly wants to be portrayed in clothing that befits both his status and his skill, assuming that he has made what he is wearing. This portrait was probably intended to be as much an advertisement for his wares as an accurate depiction of the tailor himself. He is wearing the typical dress of a prosperous man-about-town in 16^th century Europe, namely “doublet and hose”. The doublet was a close-fitting buttoned jacket with long sleeves and the hose was a padded garment that covered the area from waist to mid-thigh and was covered in vertical strips of material. These are sometimes referred to as “pumpkin pants” which would be worn over “under hose” that today would be called tights.

It is quite likely that these clothes would not have been what the tailor would normally have worn when at work. Just as the workbench is completely clear of any stray pieces of cloth or thread, the tailor is also seen in a deliberate pose that says: “this is what I am, this is what I do, and these are the clothes I make”.

Even so, the artist has done a lot more than merely produce an advertising poster. The tailor looks directly at the viewer as he turns his head slightly. It is almost as though he has been about to start work when somebody has come into his workshop but he has not had time to take in who they are. His glance is not unfriendly, but neither is it warm in the sense of breaking into a smile. This is very much a “snapshot” of a portrait, which is why it succeeds in being both intimate and revealing.

The lighting of the picture is cleverly done. The background is a blank grey wall, but a shaft of light falls across it from the top left-hand corner. This also lights the tailor’s face as he turns towards the viewer, thus giving it a realistic three-dimensional effect. The same applies to the details on the tailor’s doublet, where light and shade are used to indicate his slightly rounded stomach and convey the impression that this is not a man on the breadline but a prosperous artisan and trader who is well patronised.

The eye is taken by highlights of white on the tailor’s cuffs and belt, which are matched by the white of the small ruff at his neck. The way the arms are painted, being lit from the source mentioned above, also has the effect of leading the eyes upwards towards the tailor’s face, which is the painting's true focus. The viewer sees a man at work, but he/she is far more conscious of the man than of the work.

The composition of the painting thus gives the impression of simplicity and immediacy but the whole thing is a subtle arrangement of shapes and lighting effects that lead to a desired conclusion.

Although this is the work of an Italian painter, it seems to foreshadow the work of 17^th century Dutch painters such as Vermeer and De Hooch who would also take simple subjects from everyday life and elevate the ordinary into the extraordinary.

“The Tailor”, which is easily Moroni’s best-known work, is part of the permanent collection at the National Gallery, London.

© John Welford