Portrait of Jan van Montfort

Jan van Montfort held two posts at the Brussels court of the Archduchess Isabella, councillor and general master of the mint, and he was also a maker of medals. Van Dyck painted him around 1628 dressed for the first of those roles. Nothing here speaks of dies or metal. Instead there is a ruff, a gold chain, gloves, a sword, and the key that marked an office at court. The museum draws attention to a tension in the face. Montfort holds himself solid and outgoing, but his eyes are tired and his hair is untidy, and that gap gives the portrait a note of ambivalence. He was about 60 at the time and lived for another 20 years. By 1680 the canvas belonged to an Antwerp owner, Françoise de Fren, and it was in Vienna by 1720.