Lucas Fayd'Herbe was a cousin of Pieter Franchoijs and had returned to his native Malines in Belgium by 1640. The costume has been dated to about 1640-50.
Fayd'herbe was a pupil of Rubens, but Franchoijs has painted his cousin as a fashionable gentleman rather than as an artist. At this time artists were being presented and commemorated as worthy additions to the traditional careers that qualified as 'Famous Men'.
