Portrait of a Man in a Brown Coat

French Painter - Portrait of a Man in a Brown Coat - The Metropolitan Museum of Art These pendants, presumably of a husband and wife, are typical of a format and style popularized by Pierre Gobert (1662–1744) who looked to French Renaissance precedents even as many of his contemporaries were turning to the lighter, animated portraits of Anthony Van Dyck (1599–1641). The sitters’ faces, including his five o’clock shadow, are rendered admirably, but their costumes are comparatively schematic, particularly around his shoulder and her drapery and jewelry, making the attribution of these works difficult.