How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Buy a print or image licence
You can purchase this reproduction
If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
Cornelis van der Geest was one of the most prominent art collectors of his day, so this commission must have been extremely important to Anthony van Dyck, who was only 21 at the time. He has taken a relatively conservative approach, using a traditional format: a close up of just the sitter’s face, framed by a white ruff. But his brushwork is virtuosic. For the hair and beard he employed long, wispy strokes, while elsewhere he used much thicker paint – to add texture to the edges of the ruff, for example. The moisture in the sitter’s eyes is evoked with delicate flecks of white. The positioning of van der Geest’s head and gaze is also subtly effective. He looks very slightly back at us, as though he has just reacted to our presence. The painting was later extended, almost certainly not by van Dyck, to bust length, and showed part of the sitter’s hand.
Title
Portrait of Cornelis van der Geest
Date
about 1620
Medium
Oil on oak
Measurements
H 37.5 x W 32.5 cm
Accession number
NG52
Acquisition method
Bought, 1824
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
-
Princess Henrietta of Lorraine (1611–1660), Attended by a Page English Heritage, Kenwood -
Saint Rosalie Crowned with Roses by Two Angels English Heritage, The Wellington Collection, Apsley House -
Francis Junius (1591–1677) Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford -
Charles I (1600–1649), and Prince Charles (1630–1685) English Heritage, Marble Hill House -
Henrietta Maria (1609–1669), with the Dwarf, Geoffrey Hudson English Heritage, Marble Hill House -
James Stuart (1612–1655), 1st Duke of Richmond and 4th Duke of Lennox English Heritage, Kenwood -
The Martyrdom of Saint George Christ Church, University of Oxford - 614 more