Portrait Study of a Young Man (Bernard Stuart?)

This fairly detailed head study stands apart from most of Van Dyck’s English-period portrait drawings, which are generally concerned only with pose and costume. The long-haired youth wearing a luxurious lace collar may be Bernard Stuart, brother of James, Duke of Lennox and Richmond, who is shown in the portrait study here. Van Dyck portrayed Bernard together with another brother, John, in a famous double portrait from around 1638 (The National Gallery, London), and the young nobleman is also possibly the subject of the drawing here.