Sir Anthony Van Dyck
Flemish painter anthony Van Dyck was greatly inspired by old master Titian. He specialized in portraiture, european aristocratic portraiture, and paintings with italian religious and mythological themes. He was also an accomplished etcher but is more commonly known for his paintings during the Baroque movement. His talent was noticed early on in his life, at the age of 17 he was already finishing full paintings. He worked mostly in Genoa but traveled extensively for work and doing portraits for King James I of England and other royal families.
Van Dyck liked to work with models in fabrics that reflected light rather than absorb it like different types of silk. Most of his models were known to wear the Van Dyck beard, a popular style of the time that was later named after the facial hair most of Van Dyck’s portrait subjects were known to have.