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Lot Essay
Anthony van Dyck arrived in Italy in 1621, already having proved himself in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens and having built a sizeable and impressive oeuvre in both history painting and portraiture. Gian Pietro Bellori wrote of the artist’s Italian sojourn, ‘Van Dyck had come to Rome not for the chance to study but intending to work, and to make evident his own talent, his admirable and delightful facility for painting’ (for the original text see Le vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti moderni, 1672, p. 256). During his six years in Italy, van Dyck did not attach himself to any singular patron or court. Instead, he traveled extensively, spending time in Bologna, Florence, Rome, Venice, Palermo, Milan, Padua, and Genoa. His 'Italian sketchbook’ records his movements, the paintings he saw, and the artists he met. Establishing a definitive timeline of his travels is difficult, as only one encounter – with the artist Sofonisba Anguissola in Palermo – is dated.
Genoa became a kind of home-away-from-home for the artist, as Bellori reports, ‘traveling in other parts of Italy, he always came back to Genoa as if it were his own country, where he was known and loved by everyone’ (loc. cit., p. 225). The present portrait can be dated to circa 1626, which van Dyck spent in the port city – perhaps drawn back by the wealth of the Ligurian Republic, built on the booming shipping and banking industries in the previous century. By the time of van Dyck’s arrival, however, tensions were rising due to the ongoing Thirty Years' War and the Spanish and Savoyard occupation of the city. Genoese patricians were eager to commission his services; his large-scale, regal portraits helped to legitimize their power – and depictions of men in armor advertised their political positions as defenders of the Republic against the House of Savoy.
Although some sixty portraits from van Dyck’s final years in Genoa survive, historical documents suggest many of his works were lost, explaining why his Italian oeuvre is relatively small compared to his more prolific output elsewhere. Marked by their large format and informal, momentary quality, his Genoese works set a new standard for portraiture of the period. Painting from life, van Dyck began his portraits with a painted black outline, working up the face and hands during sittings, and returning to the costume and background elements in the studio. Without a large-scale workshop like the one he would later establish in England, the artist was forced to improvise, taking on collaborators and assistants – likely drawn from the community of Flemish artists associated with Cornelis and Lucas de Wael's workshop.
Although the sitter of the present portrait remains unidentified, it is evident that he was part of Genoa’s ruling class and wished to cast himself in the role of one of the city’s defenders. The armor, of a typical north Italian style, was not necessarily practical battlefield equipment in the age of the gun, but served to display martial readiness. The gold-trimmed armor appears in several of van Dyck’s Genoese portraits, including a half-length of a man traditionally identified as Raphael Raggio (sold Sotheby’s, London, 9 December 2015, lot 30), and another portrait of an unidentified Italian sitter (fig. 1). The artist’s bold approach to the metallic highlights – painting with expressive strokes of pure white – contrasts sharply with the carefully modelled flesh tones, creating a sense of immediacy and movement. The sitter’s confident gaze engages the viewer directly, and his hand resting on the hilt of a sword serves as a warning to the city’s occupiers of the Genoese willingness to defend their city.
We are grateful to Christopher Brown for endorsing the attribution after first-hand inspection, and for dating the picture to c. 1626 (November, 2025).
Genoa became a kind of home-away-from-home for the artist, as Bellori reports, ‘traveling in other parts of Italy, he always came back to Genoa as if it were his own country, where he was known and loved by everyone’ (loc. cit., p. 225). The present portrait can be dated to circa 1626, which van Dyck spent in the port city – perhaps drawn back by the wealth of the Ligurian Republic, built on the booming shipping and banking industries in the previous century. By the time of van Dyck’s arrival, however, tensions were rising due to the ongoing Thirty Years' War and the Spanish and Savoyard occupation of the city. Genoese patricians were eager to commission his services; his large-scale, regal portraits helped to legitimize their power – and depictions of men in armor advertised their political positions as defenders of the Republic against the House of Savoy.
Although some sixty portraits from van Dyck’s final years in Genoa survive, historical documents suggest many of his works were lost, explaining why his Italian oeuvre is relatively small compared to his more prolific output elsewhere. Marked by their large format and informal, momentary quality, his Genoese works set a new standard for portraiture of the period. Painting from life, van Dyck began his portraits with a painted black outline, working up the face and hands during sittings, and returning to the costume and background elements in the studio. Without a large-scale workshop like the one he would later establish in England, the artist was forced to improvise, taking on collaborators and assistants – likely drawn from the community of Flemish artists associated with Cornelis and Lucas de Wael's workshop.
Although the sitter of the present portrait remains unidentified, it is evident that he was part of Genoa’s ruling class and wished to cast himself in the role of one of the city’s defenders. The armor, of a typical north Italian style, was not necessarily practical battlefield equipment in the age of the gun, but served to display martial readiness. The gold-trimmed armor appears in several of van Dyck’s Genoese portraits, including a half-length of a man traditionally identified as Raphael Raggio (sold Sotheby’s, London, 9 December 2015, lot 30), and another portrait of an unidentified Italian sitter (fig. 1). The artist’s bold approach to the metallic highlights – painting with expressive strokes of pure white – contrasts sharply with the carefully modelled flesh tones, creating a sense of immediacy and movement. The sitter’s confident gaze engages the viewer directly, and his hand resting on the hilt of a sword serves as a warning to the city’s occupiers of the Genoese willingness to defend their city.
We are grateful to Christopher Brown for endorsing the attribution after first-hand inspection, and for dating the picture to c. 1626 (November, 2025).