Portrait of Giovanni Battista Cattaneo 

Anthony van Dyck painted this portrait of Giovanni Battista Cattaneo in oil on canvas in the 17th century. Van Dyck was Flemish, but he spent a lot of time in Italy. This portrait shows a man dressed in black with a white collar, holding a letter. Paintings like this one tell us a lot about the social structures of the time. The dark clothing and serious expression show that Cattaneo was a man of importance, probably a merchant or someone in a similar profession. Van Dyck was known for his ability to capture the personality of his sitters. The letter he is holding might refer to the literary and intellectual circles in which the sitter moved or even his financial dealings. It all served the sitter's self-fashioning. To fully understand this painting, we need to research the history of Genoa, where Cattaneo lived, and the role of portraiture in the 17th century. We need to remember that art doesn't exist in a vacuum, it's always shaped by the society around it.