Portrait of a Man

The panel is dated 1556, and the man in it gives almost nothing away. He wears black from shoulders to waist, and the museum notes how his hands barely emerge from the dark clothes, almost hidden. All the attention goes to the face, with its long reddish beard above a thin white collar, and here, the museum observes, Key's brush becomes surer and more fluid. It calls the result an exemplary portrait of the solid Netherlandish burgher class of the 16th century. Who the sitter was is not recorded.

Beside it hangs another picture by Key, a Kinship of Saint Anne, the large family of the Virgin's mother. That one is strongly Italian in manner, and the museum suggests it may point to a journey the painter made to Italy, something no document confirms.