# Bust of a Bearded Man

**Gerrit Dou** (Dutch, 1613–1675)  
c. 1642/1645  
oil on panel  
overall (oval): 18.41 × 14.92 cm (7 1/4 × 5 7/8 in.) framed: 34 x 30.2 x 5.4 cm (13 3/8 x 11 7/8 x 2 1/8 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2014.136.32. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.106946.html).

## About this work

Gerrit Dou painted this in about 1642/1645, aged about 29. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

Shown from the chest up, a light-skinned man with a wrinkled face and a silvery gray beard and hair gazes into the distance in this oval portrait painting. His chest is angled to our right but he turns his head to look off over his other shoulder, to our left. His slate-blue eyes are a little sunken and lined with wrinkles. Shading marks the hollows of the temple and cheek we can see. His thin lips are closed and framed by his curly mustache and beard. A dark, mahogany-brown cap is pushed back on his head, and his brown jacket has gold-colored buttons down the front. The collar of a cream-colored shirt shows through at the neckline. The background is dark olive green. The artist signed the work near the man’s shoulder, to our right: “GDOV.”

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil on panel.** Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Gerrit Dou](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/gerrit-dou)

Dutch, 1613–1675

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was about 29
- Real size: about 7 × 6 in (18 × 15 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: head and shoulders, Bearded man
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1640.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1640/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/bust-of-a-bearded-man-nga-106946).