It is likely that this striking old man is a portrait of a specific sitter rather than a genre piece. However, there are few clues as not even the books have inscriptions on their spines which could give some indication of the sitter’s scholarship.  The picture gives insight in the way a scholar would have worked with his quill pens, inkwell and hourglass. There are a number of realistic touches such as the books on the top right of the shelves put in backwards revealing the tapes used to keep the binding in place.

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