Portrait of a Man
Artist: Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599 - 1641)
Date: about 1630
Dimensions:
H: 41 1/2 in. (105.3 cm); W: 33 in. (83.7 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1964.33
Label Text:The man in this painting remains unidentified, but the painting was made during a period when Anthony van Dyck painted portraits of prominent Antwerp citizens and members of the Hapsburg court at Brussels. The elegant pose and expensive silk suit with elaborate lace collar and cuffs suggests that the man is a member of the nobility. The column in the background also associates him with all of the grandeur of classical architecture and the vast spaces of a royal court or noble palace.
By the time he reached his twenties, after years of working as Peter Paul Rubens’s assistant and collaborator (see Rubens’ Crowning of Saint Catherine in the Great Gallery), Van Dyck was sought after by distinguished patrons in Britain, Italy, and the Southern Netherlands. The easy grace, aristocratic reserve, and elegance that Van Dyck imparted to his sitters became an ideal model for European portraiture in the centuries following his death.
By the time he reached his twenties, after years of working as Peter Paul Rubens’s assistant and collaborator (see Rubens’ Crowning of Saint Catherine in the Great Gallery), Van Dyck was sought after by distinguished patrons in Britain, Italy, and the Southern Netherlands. The easy grace, aristocratic reserve, and elegance that Van Dyck imparted to his sitters became an ideal model for European portraiture in the centuries following his death.
On view
In Collection(s)