GOTTFRIED LIBALT (GERMAN 1610-1673)PORTRAIT OF A MAN, AGED 60, HOLDING A BOOKOil on canvasInscribed and dated 'Aetatis 60. Ao 1648' (upper left) and signed and dated 'Libalt Fec.1648' (lower centre)Provenance:C. Newton-Robinson, Esq.The Peto FamilySir Geoffrey Peto and thence by descentLittle is known about the artist, the contours of Gottfried Libalt's life are still largely unknown. Presumably born in Hamburg, his known oeuvre largely consists of elaborate hunting and kitchen still lives. Only one other portrait by his hand is known to exist, the remarkable picture Youth with Monkey (Portrait of Alexander Ostrogosky), from the collection of Podhorce Castle in East Galicia, which today belongs to the Lviv Art Gallery and is displayed at Olesko Castle. This portrait was most likely commissioned by the mother of the sitter, Katharina Sobieska, sister of Jan III Sobieski (1629-1696), the future Polish king (from 1674).