Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) was second only to Rubens among Flemish artists of the seventeenth century. Growing up in his birthplace of Antwerp, he developed his artistic skills quickly, working independently (and illegally) for some years until 1618, when he was accepted as a member of the local guild of painters. A period of two years in the workshop of Rubens had a decisive effect on his art. A long stay in Italy was of equal significance (1627-27); for, working mainly in Genoa, he evolved the refined and elegant manner which would henceforth be his hallmark. He put this to particularly good use on his return to Antwerp, in producing some of his finest portraits (1627-31). His fame resulted in his appointment as painter to Charles I of England, and consequently in his receiving a knighthood (1632). The presence of the artist and his work in England undoubtedly contributed to the influence of Van Dyck on such later English portraitists as Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Reynolds revealed himself to be particularly perceptive about Van Dyck's place in the English tradition in writing that:
since we have no ancient portraits we make the best authority among the moderns serve the same purpose. The great variety of excellent portraits with which Vandyck has enriched this nation, we are not content to admire for their real excellence, but extend our approbation even to the dress which happened to be in fashion of that age. ( Reynolds, Discourses, p. 138)