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, Dutch, 1615-1660
Title
Head of an Old Man
Datec.1642
MediumOil on wood panel
Dimensions
64 x 47 cm
Signedupper left (indistinctly): G F
Credit LinePurchased, 1886
Object numberNGI.254
Exhibition HistoryCentenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964

Label TextBorn in the German town of Cleves, Flinck trained with Rembrandt in Amsterdam in the mid–1630s. In his first years as an independent artist, he painted many biblical works in his master’s style. Like Rembrandt, Flinck also painted tronies (the seventeenth-century Dutch word for ‘faces’), which are heads that express a certain type or character, often in fancy or oriental costume. A tronie was not a commission and the identity of the sitter is irrelevant. In this painting Flinck shows off his skill in rendering the hair, skin and captivating gaze of the old man.