Lot 1024 Dα

According to Jan de Maere, the present portrait of an unknown bearded man is an early work by the artist painted in Italy. The influence of Frans II Pourbus, with whom Sustermans spent three years in Paris (1616-19) before moving to Florence, is still noticeable. There is a close stylistic affinity with van Dyck's Genoese portraits. Sustermans worked with van Dyck in Florence in 1624. The painting can therefore probably be dated to around 1624/25, a date that also corresponds with the fashionable French clothing. The unknown man is probably an Italian nobleman of high rank, as indicated by the valuable pink silk sash.