Portrait of a Man, possibly Nicolaes Pietersz Duyst van Voorhout (born about 1600, died 1650)

This painting of the early 1630s was transferred from wood to canvas, probably in the 1920s. The back of the panel was inscribed with the sitter's name and profession, followed by a question mark. If this record is reliable the sitter would be Nicolaes Pietersz. Duyst van Voorhout, who was born about 1600 and owned a brewery in Haarlem. The arrangement of the figure strongly recalls Hals's "Laughing Cavalier" of 1624 (The Wallace Collection, London), but the tonal palette is typical of Haarlem portraiture in the 1630s. (http://www.metmuseum.org)