Style of Anthony van Dyck, 'Portraits of Two Young Englishmen', about 1635-40

Two young men in fashionable clothing look into the distance as they lean against a plinth. It is not known who painted the picture, or who first owned it – it first appears in 1682, when it was bought by Anthony de Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, from the collection of the artist Jan Baptist Gaspers. The double portrait has traditionally been considered to be by the favoured painter of the English royal court, Anthony van Dyck, but this is now doubted. It does reflect the style of the artist in the 1630s, but could have been painted after his death in 1641 by a follower working in his style or from a lost original or workshop design.

The sitters have in the past been identified as Lords John and Bernard Stuart, the youngest sons of Esmé Stuart, 3rd Duke of Lennox; their elder brothers – James, 1st Duke of Richmond and Lord George Stuart – also sat for Van Dyck. But the men depicted here bear little resemblance to known portraits of John and Bernard, such as Van Dyck’s own Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart, which is also in the National Gallery’s collection. Van Dyck’s portrait may well be the model for this work: the colour palette is similar, as is the austere setting, the attitude of the poses and the pairing of two sitters who appear to be related.