The artist was known for the masterly portrayals of his sitters, with particular attention to their bone structure and their hands.
The painting was last on the market in 2012, when it was sold by Christie’s in London. The previous reference to the provenance of the work, which can be dated to c.1520-25, was a hundred years earlier – in 1911 it was auctioned at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris as part of the legacy of the French collector Henri Haro (1855-1911). Like his grandfather and father before him, Haro was a painter and art dealer.
In that 1911 sale, which included works by Hubert Robert, Vigée-Lebrun, Delacroix and Ingres, the present portrait was catalogued as by Barthélemy de Bruyn. The price it achieved then is not known, but Karl & Faber is now hoping for €70,000-90,000.
