Selfportrait of the artist

The original, oil on canvas, 82.5 x 70.2 cm, is in the Bayerische Staatsgemälde Sammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Munich (E. Larsen, The Paintings of Sir Anthony van Dyck, 1988, II, p.29, no.44; I, fig.136). The portrait belongs to a group of three selfportraits by the artist dating from 1620-1622 (Metropolitan Museum, New York, Larsen, op.cit., no.43; Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, Larsen, op.cit., no.41), all three of them deriving from the same head study. It has been suggested that the original of the present copy was executed after the artist had left for Italy, as the gold chain might be identical to the one granted to him in 1622 by the Duke of Mantua.

See illustration