Thomas de Keyser

Dutch, 1596 - 1667

Explore Selected Works

Thomas de Keyser, Portrait of a Man, 1657, black chalk on vellum, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1988.8.1

Portrait of a Man

Thomas de Keyser · 1657 · black chalk on vellum ·  Accession ID  1988.8.1

Shown from the chest up, a bearded man with pale skin and flushed cheeks wears a chestnut-brown jacket with a thick, lace-trimmed, pleated, cream-white collar in this octagonal portrait painting. The man’s body is angled to our right, and he cuts his light brown eyes back to look at us. Wrinkles line the corners of his eyes under dark brows, and he has a straight, narrow nose and high cheekbones. His red lips are closed and almost lost in the shadow of his full, trimmed beard. His dark brown hair is combed back from a receding hairline and falls around his ears. The dense, ruffled collar comes up to the earlobe we can see. His brown vest has a row of gold buttons down the front, and there are more gold buttons down the sleeve. He is lit from our left so the far side of his face is in shadow. The dark brown background lightens slightly around his face.
Thomas de Keyser, Portrait of a Gentleman Wearing a Fancy Ruff, 1627, oil on copper, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2012.12.1

Portrait of a Gentleman Wearing a Fancy Ruff

Thomas de Keyser · 1627 · oil on copper ·  Accession ID  2012.12.1

Jonas Suyderhoff, Hendrick de Keyser, engraving, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.8088

Hendrick de Keyser

Jonas Suyderhoff · · engraving ·  Accession ID  1943.3.8088

Bibliography

1904

  • Weissman, A.W. "Het geslacht De Keyser." Oud Holland 22 (1904):65-90.

1916

  • Weissman, A.W. "Een Brief Van Thomas De Keyser." Oud Holland 34 (1916): 61-66.

1930

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. "Pieter Lastman en Thomas de Keyser." Oud Holland 47 (1930): 237-240.

1985

  • Adams, Ann Jensen. "The Paintings of Thomas de Keyser (1596/7-1667): A Study of Portraiture in Seventeenth-century Amsterdam." 4 vols. in 2. Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1985.