Portrait of Cornelis Cossiers
Artists who draw their own children often manage to maintain a spontaneous directness. This quality is wonderfully represented in this drawing by the Antwerp painter Jan Cossiers. The sitter is his son Cornelis, as can be read in the upper right corner, portrayed in 1658. With his delightfully tousled hair, the boy gives the impression of having just realized that he is being drawn and is about to say something.