Govaert Flinck (Cleves 1615-1660 Amsterdam)

This opulent portrait is one of two versions, the second of which is at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire. The superlative quality of the present picture makes a strong case for this being the prime. It dates to circa 1640 and is comparable to a number of paintings produced by Flinck during the late 1630s and early 1640s, most notably Saskia as a shepherd, dated 1636 (Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, inv. 252) and Portrait of a man, known as Gozen Centen, circa 1640 (Rijksmuseum).