(Antwerp 1569–1622 Paris)
Portrait of a nobleman, bust-length, wearing an embroidered doublet and a lace ruff,
inscribed and dated upper left: ANTVE?’ AN^o SAL.. / 1593;
inscribed upper right: ÆTA’ SVÆ.18..,
oil on canvas, 65.5 x 55 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Uruguay, since the 1920s;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Paolo Bertelli for suggesting the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

This recently rediscovered painting is an important new addition to the corpus of works by Frans Pourbus the Younger. The portrait, executed in 1593, represents an eighteen-year old youth from Antwerp (as stated by the inscriptions at upper left and right, to either side of the sitter’s head). The figure is posed against a dark olive-green ground which appears to be a heavy drape. The young man almost certainly belongs, if not to the nobility, to the upper classes of Antwerp: his dress is fashionable and refined, and undoubtedly expensive. The doublet he wears, which appears to be embroidered with silver and gold thread, is especially precious; its fabric covered buttons are clearly displayed on his chest, while over this he wears a black velvet jerkin that is likewise embroidered with decorative motifs. His ruff, with its ornamented Burano lace collar, is imposing. His features are even, his chestnut hair is short and brushed back in a quiff following the fashion of the time.

The present painting’s elegance and the great technique used for the rendering of the sitter’s features reveal all the pictorial refinements achieved by Frans Pourbus; likewise, the palette and the manner of execution of the inscriptions are similar to other works by the master. The flesh tones may be slightly lighter compared to some portraits of the 1590s, however, this can be accounted for by a consideration of the painting’s state of conservation. Moreover, the wealth of details: the edging of the ruff, the description of fabrics, the depiction of his moustache and sideburns – all suggest that this work be assigned to Frans Probus the Younger at the very outset of his career; indeed, his earliest paintings are dated 1591.

The work’s provenance is unknown, nor is there a traditional identification of the young sitter. His features, his age and the date could serve as particularly significant tools in an attempt to identify the young man. For example, the sitter’s features are quite similar to those in a portrait of Rodrigo Calderón by Rubens dating to circa twenty years later (Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, inv. no. RCIN 404393). The colour and growth pattern of the hair are similar, as are the eyes and the shape of the face, even though in Rubens’s portrait the chin and lips are partly hidden by a beard. Rodrigo Calderón was born in Antwerp in 1576, therefore in 1593 he was eighteen or nineteen years old. His family descended from merchants of Valladolid that was raised to nobility by Emperor Charles V; his father was the captain Don Francisco de Calderón. He had an adventurous life and was remarkable for his interest in collecting art, particularly Flemish paintings.