Anthony van Dyck self portrait (Metropolitan Museum of Art) American banker Jules Bache in 1949. Anthony van Dyck self portrait (Metropolitan Museum of Art) The Metropolitan Museum of Art possesses in its collection a self portrait painted by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck. Done in oil on canvas, the work depicts its creator during his early twenties. The self portrait was likely painted by van Dyck during the winter of 1620-1621, which the artist spent in London. van Dyck chose to render a depiction of himself as a country gentlemen dressed in fine clothes; he likely acquired these clothes due to his father being a wealthy clothier. The painting
Anthony van Dyck the instigation of George Villiers, Marquess of Buckingham, van Dyck went to England for the first time where he worked for King James I of England, receiving £100. It was in London in the collection of the Earl of Arundel that he first saw the work of Titian, whose use of colour and subtle modeling of form would prove transformational, offering a new stylistic language that would enrich the compositional lessons learned from Rubens. After about four months, he returned to Flanders, but moved on in late 1621 to Italy, where he remained for six years, studying the Italian masters