Portrait of an Unknown Man

When Jan van Bijlert and other Utrecht artists, such as Gerard van Honthorst, Hendrick Terbrugghen and Dirck van Baburen traveled to Rome in the early 1600s, they brought back a style that significantly transformed the art of their native town. These artists, known collectively as the Utrecht Caravaggisti, were greatly influenced by Caravaggio’s use of chiaroscuro which dominated Italian painting in the early seventeenth century and had an extensive impact throughout Europe.

In 1624, van Bijlert brought his Caravaggesque manner back to his native city of Utrecht. By the 1630s, however, he adopted a more classicising style, strongly influenced by his Dutch contemporary, Gerard van Honthorst, as well as Simon Vouet. The present portrait belongs to this later period of the artist’s career. Although highly speculative, it might be a portrayal of the Dutch poet and physician, Jacob Westerbaen (1599-1670).