Tronie of a Bearded Man with a Large Beret

The Bearded Man

Against a dark green background, an imposing, ruddy-bearded and longhaired man, his head turned rightwards, peers out at us with curiosity, from underneath a rather large brown beret. Over his white undergarment this man wears a greenish-grey doublet, covered by a brown fur-lined cloak, which is fastened by gold brocade braids on the chest. Narrow-framed in the picture plane, his presence is direct and intense. While essentially good-natured, he exudes a robust stoutness.

Possibly more than anywhere else in his oeuvre, Backer displays his turbulent side here. The beard and the moustache are built up from an irregular variety of lighter and darker brown curls, the mouth is rendered with a bold dark smear above the pink of the lower lip, and the eyes and eyelids – trademark Backer – are executed with admirable swiftness. Still, Backer’s brilliance shows most of all in the impasto of the incarnate. Rough, patchy and dynamic, with thick highlights alternating with open areas of ground layer to three-dimensional effect, it is the result of spirited intuition, as much as skillful execution.

Backer, who had acquainted himself with Rembrandt’s work in Leeuwarden, became Rembrandt’s main competitor in Amsterdam’s single bust tronie market. The present bust, a recent discovery and a marvelous addition to Backer’s oeuvre, should likely be dated c. 1634-1637.