Portrait of an unknown man, probably a Protestant minister

A man dressed in dark clothes is seated behind a lectern on a decorated chair. He is depicted as if he has been disturbed while reading. With this device, Van der Helst tried to inject some life into the portrait of the unknown man. The portrait therefore seems - literally - to be painted from life. Such works should not, however, be considered as a snapshot; a long process of posing and arranging took place before the painting was started. The painting dating from 1683 is one of the earliest dated works by Van der Helst. Despite his young age, the 25-year-old man had attracted the interest of Amsterdam publishers. This type of portrait is very similar to the preacher portraits from the first half of the 1630s. Because of this and also because of the clothing and the open Bible on the lectern, it is probable that the person portrayed here is an as yet unidentified preacher.