Portrait of a Man in Armor

Like his compatriot and teacher Peter Paul Rubens before him, Anthony van Dyck traveled to Italy to study ancient classical sculpture and works by the great artists of the Renaissance. With introductions from Rubens, he spent considerable time in Genoa painting portraits of several noble families; today these are regarded as some of the most striking images from the Baroque era. The identity of the old man in armor is unknown, but the early history of the painting suggests that he belonged to either the Spinola or the Balbi family. Despite his anonymity, the gentleman has commanded attention since the late 1600s, when the portrait was first recorded in a Genoese collection.

In his large-scale portraits, van Dyck posed his figures elegantly and dramatically, drawing attention to their affluence and aristocratic status. Frequently he enhanced the portraits with allusions to classical antiquity–in this case, the classical column at right–intended to reflect the sitters’ erudition and nobility. The grandeur and sophistication of van Dyck’s portrait compositions made them enormously influential throughout Europe. They were the inspiration for “grand manner” portraits by Gainsborough, Reynolds, and a host of portrait painters well into the twentieth century.