On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Portrait of Matthias Buchinger
Anonymous, British, 18th century British
Sitter Matthias Buchinger German
Not on view
As noted in the inscription, this iconic portrait is after a self-portrait by Buchinger. Created less than a decade after Buchinger left the continent for Britain, it reveals his transition from an unknown and unheralded figure of popular entertainment into the guise of a gentleman who preferred an upper-class audience that could pay handsomely for his calligraphic family trees, coats of arms, and distinctive portraits—many of which contain the elaborate and miniscule lines of text that make up the curls of Buchinger’s wig. This visual motif became the signature element of portraits of Buchinger; here, for example, his coiffure contains seven complete psalms and the Lord’s Prayer.
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