Portrait of a Man, 1658

This is a half-length male portrait. The contrast between the pale background and the figure in dark clothing enhances the sense of depth. He wears a doublet with high, starched collar. His mid-length haircut fell out of fashion around 1650. The wide-brimmed hat was also out-dated. The man portrayed, therefore, did not therefore belong to the progressive circles of the Golden Age. Perhaps he felt more at home amongst the stricter conservatives, whose long hair was known as ‘teeming louse nests’? Around 1635, a fierce debate raged about the wearing of long hair, known as the ‘hairige quaestie’ hairy question.