Bazin de Besons, Claude
1673
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1673
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
This is a black-and-white portrait of a man with curly hair and a serious expression. He’s wearing a lace collar and a dark coat, holding a folded paper in one hand. The background is a simple oval frame with decorative carvings and a coat of arms at the bottom. The artist used shading to make the face stand out sharply against the light background. This kind of contrast was common in portraits from that time. Next, look up chiaroscuro to see how artists used light and shadow like this.
