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(Amsterdam 1597-1664 Haarlem)

This bust portrait of a man holding a wine glass of a type widely used in the Netherlands in the Golden Age may well be an allegorical painting, for this was often how Taste was shown in series depicting the five senses. The meticulous detail and naturalism of the man’s features suggest that this is a portrait, although perhaps treated in an allegorical manner. The work is probably by the history painter Salomon de Bray, who produced several similar portraits in the 1620s and 1630s: small, oval formats on panels or on copper.