Jan de Bray (Painter, Dutch, c. 1627 - 1688, Head of a Young Boy, c. 1650. Oil on copper, 7.5 x 5.9 cm. Gift of Maida and George Abrams, 1995.74.1. © 2025 National Gallery of Art.

Measuring just under 3-by-3 inches, this diminutive Head of a Young Boy engages the viewer through the sitter’s intense and serious gaze. Executed in free yet delicate brushstrokes, the work reveals the artist's mastery in rendering details within a restricted space. The smooth surface of the copper plate provided a perfect ground for the highly refined and precise technique of the painter, traditionally believed to be Jan de Bray. Customarily, such small portraits were placed in wide ebony frames that direct the viewer's eye to the image. The artist enhanced the illusionism of daylight streaming in from the left by painting a narrow shadow along the upper-left curved edge of the picture, thereby suggesting the presence of the frame.

The attribution of miniature portraits is often difficult to establish. This painting is similar, but not identical in style and technique, to miniatures De Bray executed early in his career. The boy, who is probably about six to eight years old, wears a doublet that can be dated to between 1650 and 1655. De Bray often made bust-length depictions of children as parts of Dutch family portrait series. Head of a Young Boy most likely belongs to one such series.