Portrait of a Man with a Samson Medal

Nobody knows who this man was or who painted him, yet his hat gives the date. Red hats like this one, with flaps and black ribbons, were in fashion from about 1515 to 1530. On the front flap a medal catches the light. It shows Samson fighting the lion. Between thumb and forefinger the man holds a red carnation, and the museum thinks the portrait may once have had a companion showing his future wife. The attribution has shifted over the years. In Genoa in 1899 the panel was given to the Dutch master Lucas van Leyden, and later, with the dealer Leo Nardus, to Petrus Christus of Bruges. The museum now calls its maker simply a Flemish painter, and bought it in 1917 with the help of the Rembrandt Association. During a later restoration, conservators found the whole background had been repainted before 1750 and uncovered the original green beneath.