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Detail from the portrait 'Man in red', showing his capped head
Conserving the Man in Red

Examine one of the most enigmatic paintings in the Royal Collection

Panel analysis

Dendrochronologist Ian Tyers examining tree rings©

This painting is composed of four oak boards, which have been sourced to the eastern Baltic around modern-day Poland. Since oak from this region was the high-quality wood of choice during the sixteenth century and could be bought across Europe this identification does not provide a definitive confirmation of the painting’s country of origin.

Dendrochronology – scientific analysis of the sequences of tree rings in the panels – suggests that the wood used was felled between c.1527 and c.1543. On the basis of panel analysis alone, a latest date for the painting is difficult to establish with certainty, although the wood is unlikely to have been left unused for decades after felling.


The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.