POURBUS, Pieter
(b. ca. 1523, Gouda, d. 1584, Brugge)

Portrait of Olivier van Nieulant

1573
Oil on panel, 49,5 x 37,5 cm
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp

The versatile artist Pieter Pourbus, whose career was spent in the flourishing town of Bruges, can be seen as displaying a certain duality of both progressive and old-fashioned traits. His Portrait of Olivier van Nieulant, a Bruges alderman, dates from his less successful period. His sober and sharp observation is, however, still present, while the even execution, neutral ground and flowing outlines of his subject are characteristic. The neat figure of Van Nieulant is rather old-looking (he is only 26).