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The image features a man shown from the shoulders up, facing partly left with a stern expression. He has deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, a strong jawline, and thick mutton chops as well as a mustache framing his face. The man wears a tall black top hat, a dark formal coat with wide lapels, and is set against a dark, cross-hatched background. The portrait is detailed and rendered in a monochrome palette.
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The image features a man shown from the shoulders up, facing partly left with a stern expression. He has deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, a strong jawline, and thick mutton chops as well as a mustache framing his face. The man wears a tall black top hat, a dark formal coat with wide lapels, and is set against a dark, cross-hatched background. The portrait is detailed and rendered in a monochrome palette.

National Gallery of Art · Print

Adolph Menzel Wearing a Top Hat

Karl Stauffer-Bern

Date
c. 1885
Medium
etching with drypoint on chine collé
Dimensions
plate: 39.6 × 29.7 cm (15 9/16 × 11 11/16 in.) sheet: 54.8 × 36.4 cm (21 9/16 × 14 5/16 in.)
Classification
Print
Accession number
2020.167.14
Credit line
Gift of Christopher and Beverly With in memory of Karl and Gerda With
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CG-E
Original NGA record

Subjects and terms

  • Hat
  • Portrait
  • Eye
  • Face
  • Man
Provenance

(Christopher and Beverly With, Washington, D.C.); gift to NGA, 2020.

Inscription

lower right in image: Menze. / ad. viv / Stauffer-Bern Nov 85; below plate: Karl Stauffer-Bern fecit; O Felsing, Berlin impr; Amsler & Ruthardt, Berlin W.; by later hand, lower left in graphite: Stauffer-Bern: Adolf Menzel (fast Lebensgrosser Kopf mit [not deciphered]), Lehrs 13.III.[not deciphered]

NGA object ID 154449. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.