Portrait of a Gentleman, wearing black, slashed doublet over white shirt, white lawn collar with tassels, his dark hair worn long

The present portrait bears a close resemblance to the Dutch Golden Age painter Karel Dujardin’s self portrait of 1662, now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Better known for his scenes of simple, bucolic life, Dujardin was also a portraitist, receiving commissions from elite patrons in Amsterdam.

Painted in monochromatic tones, the present portrait is of a man of fashion and taste – his expensive black doublet slashed to reveal a fine, lawn shirt. Painted in oil on gold, it is difficult to believe that the (currently unknown) artist was not aware of Dujardin’s self-portrait, where he wears almost identical dress, has the same hairstyle and facial hair. Several Dutch artists painted portraits using a metal (usually copper) support for oil – including Frans van Mieris (1635-81) and possibly Rembrandt.

Gold was an unusual support for oil at this date, with copper a far more common surface. As an etcher, copper would have been readily available to Dujardin, as with many other artists and print-makers in Holland. Metal offered many excellent qualities as a support, allowing for artists to produce works in fine detail with a more polished finish than working on canvas or wood. Often finely marked with a hammer, the small scale surface was a perfect surface on which to paint a meticulous, portable portrait.