Skip to main content

Italian, North, 'The Protonotary Giovanni Giuliano (Zuan Zulian)', about 1530-40

Key facts
Full title The Protonotary Giovanni Giuliano (Zuan Zulian)
Artist Italian, North
Date made about 1530-40
Medium and support oil on canvas
Dimensions 97.5 × 75.5 cm
Acquisition credit Bought, 1881
Inventory number NG1105
Location Not on display
Collection Main Collection
The Protonotary Giovanni Giuliano (Zuan Zulian)
Italian, North
/

An elderly man in a lynx-lined jacket looks up from the large book he has been reading. He sits at a table covered with a Mamluk carpet, on which a gilded clock and two letters rest.

The letters are both inscribed identically in Italian: ‘To the most Reverend Monsignor Giuliano with the most honourable (dignified) office of apostolic protonotary directed to Borgo di Ognissanti, Padua.’ Protonotaries attend the pope in his ceremonial duties and witness papal bulls (a type of public decree issued by a pope).

Clocks were relatively rare in sixteenth-century Venetian households. The clock appears to have been an addition as it is painted over a bell. It was probably included simply as a luxury item, although it would also have brought to mind the passing of time. It is rendered with a more palpable sense of its material presence, the pigments built up more carefully, than the rest of the picture; it may have been added by a different artist.

Download image
Download low-resolution image

Download a low-resolution copy of this image for personal use.

License this image

License and download a high-resolution image for reproductions up to A3 size from the National Gallery Picture Library.

License image
Download low-resolution image

This image is licensed for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons agreement.

Examples of non-commercial use are:

  • Research, private study, or for internal circulation within an educational organisation (such as a school, college or university)
  • Non-profit publications, personal websites, blogs, and social media

The image file is 800 pixels on the longest side.

As a charity, we depend upon the generosity of individuals to ensure the collection continues to engage and inspire. Help keep us free by making a donation today.

Download low-resolution image

You must agree to the Creative Commons terms and conditions to download this image.

Creative Commons Logo