Peter Paul Rubens, 'Portrait of Ludovicus Nonnius', about 1627

The aged antiquarian and doctor Ludovicus Nonnius meets our gaze with watery eyes. With his slightly parted lips, he appears to engage us in discussing a passage from the book he holds, which is most likely his recently published text, Diaeteticon sive de recibaria, Libri IV. In this he argues for the importance of diet, his research based on the eating habits of the ancient Romans.

Nonnius was a friend of Rubens in Antwerp, and the artist shows his respect for the old scholar by painting him in fine clothing, seated in a stately chair and framed by grand classical architecture. His hair is grey but coiffed, and his moustache fashionably twisted. Light is thrown from an invisible window into the gloomy space, catching the profile of the sculpted bust, highlighting Nonnius’s face and his open book and bouncing off the wall on the right.

The bust is identified in Greek lettering as Hippocrates (around 460–around 370 BC), the founder of medicine and a respected forebear of Nonnius in terms of his medical and classical learning. It is incredibly life-like, showing the whites of his eyes, a green-tinted iris and a black pupil, as if Hippocrates had returned to life for the occasion. As well as serving to balance the composition, the books on the ledge opposite emphasise the scholarly achievements of the sitter; the covers of two hang undone, suggesting that he has recently consulted them.