Portrait Study of a Young Man in Classical Garb

Although most of Van Dyck’s portraits show his sitters in contemporary dress, a few present them in the religious or mythological guise of a history painting. This drawing appears to be made in preparation for such a portrait, possibly depicting its subject as St. John the Baptist or a Greek shepherd, although no related painting is known today. A strong resemblance suggests the young man could be the same as the one in the more conventional portrait drawing here. Indeed, a pastoral theme would have particularly appealed to a young aristocrat at the court of Charles I, where noblemen and women often played the roles of shepherds and shepherdesses at masques.