The Falconer

The Falconer

A young gentleman with a falcon, a magnificent cloak and absolutely no apparent intention of smiling.

Originally painted by Wallerant Vaillant, this seventeenth-century portrait captures the sort of young gentleman who presumably had very important things to attend to, most of them involving horses, hunting and the general management of an estate. Quite the character.

The original portrait

Wallerant Vaillant was a Flemish painter and pioneer of mezzotint who established himself in Amsterdam in the mid-seventeenth century. This portrait shows a young boy with a falcon, a traditional emblem of aristocratic hunting and status in Dutch and Flemish portraiture. The original is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Portrait character: THE LITTLE LORD
Original artist: Wallerant Vaillant
Original date: Seventeenth century