Anthony van Dyck, 'Portrait of George Gage with Two Attendants', probably 1621-2

A clue to the identity of the central figure in this painting lies in the carvings on the antique stone fragment – probably the top of a marble altar – against which he leans so nonchalantly. We can make out the top half of a coat of arms, divided in quarters with a saltire (X-shaped cross), next to a ’sun in splendour' (surrounded by stylised rays). This can be identified as the arms of the Gage family, from Firle in East Sussex; the ram’s head on the corner of the fragment belongs to the family crest.

This is a portrait of George Gage (about 1582–1638), an English Catholic priest, notable connoisseur of art and a political agent sent to Rome in 1621 by King James I to try to negotiate the Pope’s dispensation for the marriage of his son, the future Charles I, to the Spanish infanta, Maria Anna. Anthony van Dyck lived together with Gage in the same house in Rome in 1621 and 1622, and it is highly likely that the painting was made then. Despite six years of trying, Gage’s negotiations with the pope failed and he concentrated on another of his specialities, acquiring paintings and antique sculptures for the great English collectors of the early seventeenth century.

Van Dyck has depicted Gage as a nonchalant English gentleman at ease in what may be intended to represent the portico of a classical villa in Rome. The man on the right, presumably a salesman who deals in antiquities, is clearly trying to interest Gage – looking intently at him as he gestures towards the sculpture. Gage may look diffident, but he returns his gaze and seems about to speak. The black figure in the background is looking across them and directly at us; he holds the sculpture and is also pointing at it. We could interpret this in different ways: he may be indicating the significance of the piece, or perhaps he is trying to tempt us as prospective purchasers. Either way, we feel drawn into the negotiations.

Multiple changes in the composition reveal that the young Van Dyck took great care in developing this portrait of his friend: an irregularly shaped strip of canvas was sewn on to the main piece at the right-hand side later in the painting process; a draped curtain was replaced by architecture; and the faces of all three men and the costume of the attendant on the right were altered. Although no technical evidence has been found conclusively to support the idea, it nevertheless seems that some changes – especially in the figure on the right – date from after Van Dyck’s lifetime.

The picture has a significant place in the history of art collecting in Britain. Once believed to show a portrait of Peter Paul Rubens, it was owned by the great eighteenth-century artist Sir Joshua Reynolds before being bought by John Julius Angerstein. After Angerstein’s death, 38 of his pictures were bought by the British government to form the founding collection of the National Gallery in 1824.