Portrait of a Gentleman – Michael Sweerts (1618-1664) and the Elegance of Brussels Portraiture

Phoebus Focus XXI

Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens… Antwerp is famous because of her many talented artists. But what about Brussels?

In this edition of Phoebus Focus, researcher Lara Yeager-Crasselt takes you to the roaring Brussels art scene with a focus on the extraordinary portraiture, with Michael Sweerts as pioneer.


Lara Yeager-Crasselt (1983) is a scholar of the art of the early modern Netherlands, and Curator of The Leiden Collection, a private collection of Dutch and Flemish art based in New York. She is the author of Michael Sweerts (1618-1664): Shaping the Artist and the Academy in Rome and Brussels (2015), and has published in journals including Dutch Crossing and De zeventiende eeuw, as well as in edited volumes, collection, and exhibition catalogues.