EPPH - Every Painter Paints Himself

Fusion Confusion at The Wallace Collection

The Wallace Collection in London, an august institution, has a painting by Van Dyck of Paris, the mythological judge of beauty, posing by himself.  A detail of his face is illustrated above (left). Whatever else one has to say about this painting, there can be no doubt that the face of Paris bears a strong resemblance to Van Dyck himself (right). Yet this is what the official catalogue of The Wallace Collection has to say about it:

“The character of the mythological Paris, moreover, resembles Van Dyck himself; both men being reputedly attractive and susceptible to female charm. Van Dyck’s possible self-identification with his subject may explain the peculiar intensity of the image, which has resulted in erroneous identification as a self-portrait (it was engraved as such in 1807 by Luigi Schiavonetti.) None of the many self-portraits by the artist resembles the figure of Paris, however, nor does Paris’ appearance correspond with the descriptions of Van Dyck given by his early biographers.”¹

I am confused. Their characters resemble each other but not their faces? This is quite revealing. If experts are unable to see the resemblance between these two faces and tie themselves in knots in the process, is it surprising that they never saw “face fusion”?

1. Stephen Duffy and Jo Hedley, The Wallace Collection's Pictures: A Complete Catalogue (London: Unicorn Press) 2004, p.139