The support consists of two vertically grained oak planks, approx. 0.7 cm thick. Only the left plank (15.6 cm) appears to be original. The right plank (3.7 cm) seems to have been added at a later date. The panel has been set in a construction with oak strips along all sides (painted surface: approx. 25.2 x 19.3 cm), making it impossible to view the edges of the support. It seems likely, though, that the panel was cut down at some stage. Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring of the left plank was formed in 1509. The left plank could have been ready for use by 1520, but a date in or after 1536 is more likely. The smoothly applied ground is light in colour and was applied up to the edges. An underdrawing was not detected with infrared reflectography. The figure was left in reserve, as was the feather in the beret, the contours of which were painted over the grey-green background. The face was painted wet in wet and consists of only one paint layer. The highlights, such as the whitish tip of the nose, were painted directly on top of this layer.

Fair. The background is strongly discoloured. There is considerable overpainting on the right plank, especially in the man’s left shoulder. The very thick varnish is discoloured.

…; sale, Dr James Simon, (1851-1932, Berlin), Amsterdam (F. Muller), 25 October 1927 sqq., no. 45, as Jan van Scorel, to the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague;¹¹Copy RKD; note Isaac de Bruijn in copy RMA. from which, fl. 13,200, to Isaäc de Bruijn(1872-1953), Spiez and Muri, near Bern;²²Note RMA. donated to the museum by Isaäc de Bruijn and his wife, Johanna Geertruida de Bruijn- van der Leeuw (1877-1960), Spiez and Muri, near Bern, 1949, but kept in usufruct;³³Note RMA. transferred to the museum, 1961

Object number: SK-A-4056

Credit line: De Bruijn-van der Leeuw Bequest, Muri, Switzerland

This man with a short ginger beard is portrayed as a bust with his head turned to the left as he leans forwards slightly. Over his white shirt he wears a dark grey doublet, and on his head he has a small grey beret with a feather. Hoogewerff thought that it was a portrait of a forester because of the clothing and the man’s tanned face,⁴⁴Hoogewerff IV, 1941-42, p. 639. but it is impossible to deduce his occupation from his attire, however informal. Both the pose and the presentation are odd for a bust, so it is very likely that the painting is incomplete. It may be a fragment of a half or three-quarter length, or could once have been part of a larger scene.⁵⁵With thanks to R.E.O. Ekkart and P. van Thiel for pointing this out.

The attribution to Jan van Scorel in the 1927 sale catalogue and in Friedländer is untenable.⁶⁶See Provenance; Friedländer XII, 1935, p. 205, no. 364. The portrait lacks the plasticity found in Scorel’s portraits, and the execution is flat and schematic. Hoogewerff tentatively attributed the painting to Dirck Barendsz, but that was rightly rejected by Judson.⁷⁷Hoogewerff IV, 1941-42, p. 639; Judson 1970, p. 156, no. U10. For the time being, then, the painter remains anonymous.

The portrait can probably be dated 1530-40 on the evidence of the style and clothing, and this is confirmed by the dendrochronology.

(J. Niessen)

Friedländer XII, 1935, p. 205, no. 364 (as Jan van Scorel); Hoogewerff IV, 1941-42, p. 639 (as Dirck Barendsz or Lambert Sustris); Jaffé 1944, p. 38 (as Jan van Scorel); Cleveringa 1961, p. 67, no. 20; Judson 1970, p. 156, no. U10; ENP XII, 1975, p. 127, no. 364 (as Jan van Scorel)

1976, p. 653, no. A 4056

J. Niessen, 2010, 'anonymous, Portrait of a Man, Northern Netherlands, c. 1530 - c. 1540', in J.P. Filedt Kok (ed.), Early Netherlandish Paintings, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20025869