English: "The sitter’s expert grasp of his instrument indicates his familiarity with it, but his identity remains unknown. It seems to be a portrait of a professional musician and was long thought to be a likeness of Jacob Gaultier, a famous French musician who worked as first lutenist at the court of English king Charles I between 1617 and 1647. However, known images of that musician show a more corpulent figure with abundant curly hair, unlike Van Dyck’s model here. Moreover, the presence of the instrument does not necessarily imply that he was a professional musician. Allusions to music were customary in many Baroque portraits as signs of distinction and intellectual refinement, making the instrument a quintessential courtly symbol. Here, the sitter may be a young bourgeois or aristocrat who projects his distinguished social position through his mastery of the lute, an object associated with a refined and cultured lifestyle. Note the presence of a sword hanging from his belt, which would indicate a status somewhat above than that of a simple musician." [1]