This fine late 17th-century Flemish portrait depicts a distinguished gentleman dressed in the elaborate fashions of the 1670s. He wears a long, collarless coat known as a justaucorps, worn open over a richly embroidered vest and breeches, accompanied by a white shirt with lace cravat, leather gloves, and a broad-brimmed gentleman’s hat. A sword at his side further affirms his elevated social standing.
Leaning with apparent ease against a classical stone plinth, the sitter adopts a relaxed yet assured pose that conveys confidence, status, and personality. Beyond him unfolds an estate-like landscape, with a winding river and what may be a mill, suggesting landownership and inherited wealth rather than mercantile ambition.
By the 1670s, the justaucorps had replaced the earlier doublet and was typically worn open over a vest and breeches. These coats were characterised by narrow sleeves with wide turned-back cuffs, designed to reveal the shirt beneath, as seen here. In this example, both coat and vest are lavishly embellished with gold embroidery, while the buttons are gilded - details that signal prosperity and refinement.
The sitter has removed a single glove, deliberately exposing one hand. Bare hands were markers of civility and breeding, and their careful depiction allowed both sitter and painter to demonstrate status and skill. Such an indulgence was generally reserved for patrons of means.
Comparable examples of late 17th-century Flemish dress may be seen in The Tichborne Dole (1671) by Gillis van Tilborgh (c.1625-c.1678).
Held in a later ebonised frame with a gilt inner slip.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 18½” x 22½” / 47cm x 57cm
Year of creation: c. 1675
Provenance: Private collections, Berlin, Brandenburg and Bavaria, Germany. Passed through a family for decades by descent.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Canvas relined. Historic repairs. Faint stretcher marks. Craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Our reference: BRV2063
