Self Portrait with a Black Beret

A new discovery

Until its surfacing in France in 2026, the present portrait was completely unknown to art history. Painted on a small panel, the work had not been touched since at least the nineteenth century, causing its appearance to be severely obscured by a film of opaque yellow varnish and dirt. A recent cleaning removed both these layers, as well as a crude black retouching above the sitter’s black velvet beret, apparently added to make the beret appear like a flat crown hat.

What emerged is a mint condition portrait of a young man, seen to the right against a warm brown background, who looks at the beholder with a self-aware expression. His simple black jacket and plain white collar cause no distraction from his face and his long, chestnut coloured curly hair, which is painted with amazing ease in browns and black, to an almost lumpy effect. The daring black outline on the receding left side of the sitter’s face accentuates his profile brilliantly. Taking into consideration the flat velvet hat and the simple white collar, the portrait likely dates from the 1640s.

Although the present painting is not signed in the usual sense, a red wax seal on the panel’s reverse remarkably shows what cannot be anything other than Verelst’s ligatured monogram: PVE. This waxed monogram is so strikingly identical to the monogram that Verelst often used to sign his paintings, that one can only conclude that the seal was his. This, in turn, suggests that the painting remained in Verelst’s own personal possession.