PIETER NASON (?) (Amsterdam, 1612 - The Hague, between 1688 and 1691) Portrait of Oliver St. John Oil on canvas, 222X159 cm Provenance: Rome, Finarte, 4 April 1978, lot 77 (as Giovanni Bernardo Carbone) Italy, private collection The painting can be compared with the one in the National Portrait Gallery, London, which refers to the hand of Pieter Nason and depicts Sir Oliver St John (1598 ; 1673), English lawyer, judge and politician in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653 and champion of the parliamentary cause during the Civil War (see https://www.npg.org.uk/assets/images/logos/npg-logo-sm.svg). As we know, Nason was one of the leading Dutch portrait painters of the mid 17th century and his style reflects a synthesis of the influences of Anthony van Dyck and Gerrit Honthorst, comparable to Adriaen Hanneman. Like Hanneman he found employment at the English court in exile, producing at least one portrait of Charles II that was engraved several times in the 1760s; and two portraits of realist courtiers (see National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG 4978 and 5235).