Portrait of an unknown man, dated 1678

Portrait of an Unknown Man, dated 1678, by Nicolaes Maes exemplifies his prolific output as one of Amsterdam's busiest portrait painters in the late seventeenth century. The dated inscription helps document the evolution of his portrait style across the decades. Maes trained with Rembrandt in Amsterdam in the early 1650s before establishing himself as an independent master. His mature portrait style absorbed Flemish elegance—producing fashionable likenesses with looser brushwork and warmer flesh tones that satisfied the demand of Amsterdam's prosperous class. The portrait demonstrates Maes's characteristic technique of combining precise facial modeling with confident brushwork in the costume rendering, producing the naturalistic yet fashionable likenesses that made him Amsterdam's most sought-after portraitist. The Museum of Fine Arts in Reims holds this work.

The portrait demonstrates Maes's mature technique of combining precise facial characterization with fashionable costume rendered in broad, confident brushwork.