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Notes

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An elderly man, his face weathered by age and his clothes ragged and patched, leans on a crutch. He looks down towards a globe or sphere, on which a scene of a country inn at dusk is painted. In his right hand he holds an earthenware pilgrim-bottle or flask – such a bottle could be attached to the waist of a traveller or pilgrim by cords (visible here hanging along the left side of the flask’s belly). These types of bottles were produced across Europe and in widespread use during the seventeenth century.

This painting has been in Britain since the early nineteenth century, and was long thought to be Spanish. It is now considered to be north Italian, and probably Venetian – alternative attributions to Antonio Carneo (1637–1692) and, more convincingly, Pietro Bellotti (1625–1700) have recently been put forward.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

An Old Man holding a Pilgrim-Bottle

Date

probably 1650s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 112.5 x W 91.5 cm

Accession number

NG5595

Acquisition method

Bought, 1945

Work type

Painting

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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Artist or maker

Italian School

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