This painting is thought to depict Filippo Spinola, the son of a famous general whose family held great wealth and power in Genoa, then a part of the Spanish Empire. Spinola served under his father in the Netherlands, Milan and Spain. Baroque artist Sir Anthony van Dyck’s insightful and dignified portrait suggests a confidence and authority in the military commander, while sharing his vulnerability on the battlefield by illustrating his bandaged left knee.

With his helmet on the floor and his horse tended by a page in the background, the scene suggests Spinola has dismounted only moments before. The background of the canvas is halved: the red curtain symbolises the softness of an inner domestic world, while the exterior building column and tethered horse remind us of the omnipresent call of duty from the outside world. Spinola stands in the liminal space between these realms, a man divided.

Van Dyck is recognised for the naturalism and humanity of his portraits, and for his ability to represent subjects as individuals. He was in great demand among the Genoese, Flemish and English aristocracy.