Portrait of the Sculptor François Duquesnoy

Two young Flemings, far from home in Italy. When Van Dyck painted this in the 1620s he was in his twenties and making his name as a portraitist across Italy, while his sitter, the Brussels-born sculptor Francois Duquesnoy, was carving his way to fame in Rome. Duquesnoy would become known for tender marble children and for a colossal Saint Andrew set beneath the dome of Saint Peter's. Here he is before any of that, turned in a dark coat with a white collar, one hand loose, the eyes thoughtful and a little tired. Van Dyck keeps the background bare so nothing competes with the face. On the sitter's fine, expressive hands you can already read a sculptor's trade.