Portrait d'un homme, probablement un membre de la famille Van Beresteyn

In 1632 Rembrandt was 26 and newly arrived in Amsterdam from his hometown of Leiden. It was the year he painted the great Anatomy Lesson, and commissions from wealthy citizens were suddenly pouring in. This is one half of a pair. Its companion, a woman, still hangs beside it at the Met, the two made together most likely to mark a marriage. The sitter is probably Cornelis van Beresteyn, a burgomaster of Delft. Notice the flat lace collar lying over his shoulders. It was the new fashion of the 1630s, replacing the stiff pleated millstone ruff his father's generation had worn. Only a handful of Rembrandt's matched pendant portraits have stayed together as a pair like this one.