English school; end of the 17th century.

English school; late 17th century.
"Portrait of a gentleman":
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents faults in the pictorial surface.
It has a label on the back.
Measurements: 77 x 66 cm.
In this canvas the author offers us a male portrait of great psychological depth, sparing in accessory effects and endowed with a deep expressiveness. The format, as well as the clothing of the personage, are habitual characteristics of the genre of the portrait of the XVII century. Thus, we see the bust figure, in the foreground, standing out against a neutral and dark background, directly illuminated by a light that falls on his face and leaves the rest in semi-darkness, creating an expressive play of light and shadow on which the painter relies to model the facial features.
Aesthetically the work is very close to the painting of the artist Peter Lely who, although of Dutch origin, spent most of his career in England, where he became the dominant portraitist of the court. He became a naturalized British subject and was knighted in 1679. Lely studied painting in Haarlem, where he may have been apprenticed to Pieter de Grebber. He became master of the Guild of St. Luke in Haarlem in 1637. He arrived in London around 1643. His early English paintings, mainly religious mythological scenes, or portraits set in a pastoral landscape, show influences of Anthony van Dyck and the Dutch Baroque.
Lely's portraits were well received and he succeeded Anthony van Dyck. As the most fashionable portraitist in England. He became a freeman of the Painter-Stainers' Company in 1647 and was portrait painter to Charles I. His talent ensured that his career was not interrupted by Charles's execution, and he served Oliver Cromwell.There may be thousands of these portraits, ranging from rare first-rate originals, often of astonishing quality, to crude studio replicas by assistants trained to imitate Lely's style. Lely played an important role in the introduction of mezzotint in Britain, realizing its possibilities for publicizing his portraits.