The marble bust, a portrait of a man, was made by Hendrick de Keyser in 1608. De Keyser was at that time the leading Dutch sculptor as well as one of the foremost architects of the day. He was one of the first to work in marble, a new material for Dutch sculpture. Realism is characteristic of De Keyser's work: life-like representations. This is well demonstrated in this head of a man. De Keyser has mercilessly depicted the man's wrinkles. De Keyser has used a monster's head, a 'mascaron' to cover the problematic transition between the shoulders and the plinth. This trick was often used in busts of the period.
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