This fine early 17th-century bust-length portrait, attributed to the workshop of Flemish artist Gortzius Geldorp (1553-c.1619), depicts a gentleman possibly associated with the Lieven family.Dressed in an exquisite black doublet, embroidered extensively with a floral design and topped with a lace-edged standing collar, he’s subtly displaying his status via a monochromatic ensemble. The portrait dates to circa 1610 when Geldorp was in the later stages of his career and worked predominantly in Cologne.On the reverse, a wax seal dating to the early 19th century displays two conjoined coats of arms. One of these relates to the Lieven family, specifically its ‘princely seal’, which applied from 1826 when Charlotte Margarete Fürstin von Lieven was granted the hereditary title of Princess in the Russian Empire. She married Baron Otto Heinrich von Lieven, who descended from one of the oldest aristocratic families of German-Baltic origin. The Lieven line is well documented and dates to,...