Justus Sustermans was a Flemish portraitist active in the Medici Court, whom Anthony van Dyck likely encountered during his Italian sojourn in the 1620s. This etching displays Van Dyck's characteristically energetic draftsmanship, with the greatest detail reserved for the sitter's face, and the hands only lightly sketched. This proof impression also exhibits technical shortcomings that resulted from his relative inexperience with the printmaking medium. An early collector inscribed Sustermans's name in the print's blank lower margin.