Unknown artist
Portrait of a man, 1686-1700
Oil on canvas, 67 x 55 cm.
Inventory number: 0161NMK
Bestowed, 1908
A middle-aged man sporting a wig, cravat and distinctive moustache regards the viewer with a subtle, ambiguous smile. He has been portrayed in a casual style and a dark colour palette, only intermittently disrupted by a handful of bright details. Although the identity of the man is unknown, the elegant clothing style indicates that he was a follower of French fashion, which was popular among the European upper classes towards the end of the 1600s.
The painting has previously been attributed to the French-Danish court painter Jacob d’Agar, who in his later career was a portrait painter in the court of King Christian V.