Professor Butter Beard and Anthony van Dyck’s “Self Portrait with a Sunflower”
“A goatee is to beards what diamonds are to ornaments.” – Pawan Mishra, “Coinman”
I often think of cutting my glorious beard. A thorough mowing - especially in the spring. My winter Santa days are behind me (although I am often amazed I have any whiskers left after hundreds of little finger tugs to verify its Santa realness). A sort of “start over,” with a crisply sculpted short new style. And then, I fully chicken out. My Butter Beard has become my marketing identity, my Linus blanket, my professorial ID badge, and my invitation into the sweetest community of other facially furry gay gentlemen.
There have been others I admire with such a “calling card” – Claude Monet, Ernest Hemingway, Walt Whitman, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the “Father of Beards” himself: the emperor Hadrian. But one above all reigns supreme. Heck, his furry follicles even earned themselves their own brand name – “the Vandyck.”
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you, the “prince of bearded painters” - Sir Anthony van Dyck.
The seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealthy silk merchant in 17th century Antwerp, Anthony van Dyck painted from an early age. He was successful as an independent painter in his late teens and had become a “Master” in the Antwerp Guild by October of 1617. Giovanni Bellori, van Dyck’s biographer, wrote that the young artist’s life was “more like a prince’s than a painter’s.” By 1616, he was already working as a “disciple” of Peter Paul Rubens, suggesting that he was not really a student of the master, but already a younger collaborator in a studio that turned out paintings like a factory.
In the late 1620s, he completed his greatly admired series of portrait etchings of mainly other artists and famous contemporaries. In 1632, at the request of Charles I of England, van Dyck relocated his life to London as the invited main court painter. From that point on, the young artist became best known for his portraits of the aristocracy, most notably Charles I, and his family and associates. But Anthony van Dyck also very much enjoyed painting Anthony van Dyck.
My favorite of the self-portraits features the handsome artist glancing over his shoulder at the viewer. His soft gaze centers on us, as if calmly startled by the presence of an onlooker. His elegantly extended right finger (very identifiable in any van Dyck painting) is poised to touch the bottom petals of the giant bloom of a golden sunflower. His left index finger and thumb toy with a chain of gold that extends across his right shoulder and down his posterior side.
He is portrayed as being outside his studio, painting in nature, as designated by the cotton-like fluff of clouds in the background. An unidentified light source is radiating from the bottom left corner, illuminating the outer petals of the bloom and providing a visual effect of the sunflower “shining” on Anthony van Dyck's fine-looking face, his untethered mane of chestnut curls, and his gloriously twirled mustache and manicured goatee. It is as if nature (or symbolically, the King) is fully admiring, approving, and highlighting the artist’s glowing beauty.
Historians and scholars continue to hotly debate the symbolism behind the sunflower. According to Vernon Hyde Minor, “The concept of the language of flowers and deriving symbolism from flora had not yet gained the popularity that it would later have in literature, art, poetry, and more; yet a plethora of flowers were associated with certain traits and characteristics even in the Baroque era.” The sunflower is most commonly believed to be symbolic of devotion and fidelity because it turns during the day to follow the sun in its course across the sky, as reflected in its French name “tournesol,” the Spanish “girasol,” Italian “girasole,” etc.
Presiding as “Court Painter to the King of England” was an honor that Van Dyck reportedly reveled in. Art historians do agree that the expensive golden chain van Dyck has draped across his right shoulder was gifted to him by his patron Charles I and that the work was created while he was a court painter. The chain is very similar to other preserved gift chains from Charles I and would have held a medal with the king's likeness on it, but in this painting, the medal is cleverly concealed by the artist's right arm sleeve of his richly dyed pink silk overcoat.
Through van Dyck’s many self-portraits, viewers were exposed to his unique personal “princely” style. The artist become known for influencing 17th century Englishmen into adopting his mannerisms and outward appearance. His facial hair was worn in a very particular way, and he would popularize the look by painting his various models with the same beard. The style known as the “Van Dyck” beard came to consist of a moustache and goatee with the hair on the cheeks completely shaven. The moustache could be perfectly curled at the tips and include, or exclude, a chin goatee depending on personal preference. The look immediately was thought to be the epitome of a regal and stately appearance, and even King Charles I himself often liked to be depicted wearing this facial hair style in his portraits.
In “Self-Portrait with a Sunflower,” the artist is sporting a classic “Vandyke” with his chin goatee (soul patch) consisting of a tapered end, and his moustache tips meticulously curled and pointed upward. (Note: When van Dyck was knighted in 1632, he anglicized his name to Vandyke.) His upper lip is nearly hidden by the thick, dark hair of his moustache while remaining cleanly trimmed, often interpreted as the pride he had in the growth of his long tousled hair and his immaculate appearance.
Ah, sigh. If I was still gifted with my youthful wild mane of ginger curls, I too would easily adopt the “Vandyke,” but unfortunately, as in the words of Brandon Sanderson, “He had such an incredible beard that it made sense that he was bald. The hair on the top had been intimidated into hiding.” But Anthony van Dyck’s dark chocolate lion’s mane, his intensely bold sense of self-worth, and the blooming sunflower itself inspired my baking this week. I created a very concentrated flavor explosion of dark chocolate, espresso, cinnamon and chilies baked into an olive oil cake in the shape of the bloom of a summer sunflower. Just to gild the lily, the cooling cake is brushed with a warm espresso syrup and served alongside a handful of fresh blackberries.
Maybe Mishra’s quote could be re-interpreted as “a goatee is to beards what dark chocolate is to dessert.”
Dark Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
One Bundt Cake
2/3 cup dark cocoa powder
2/3 cup boiling water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
Coffee syrup:
½ cup freshly brewed coffee
4 Tbsp granulated sugar
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a decorative bundt pan with baking spray with flour.
2) In a small bowl, whisk together the coca and 2/3 cup boiling water until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
3) Using a standing mixer, whisk together the two sugars, chili powder, cinnamon, the eggs (one at a time), the olive oil and vanilla paste.
4) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add this dry mix and the cocoa mixture to the wet mix, whisking on low power, until just fully combined. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
5) Bake the cake on the center rack for 35 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees, and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until a wooden skewer comes out clean.
6) Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7) While the cake is baking, make the coffee syrup: In a small saucepan, bring the brewed coffee and the additional sugar to a soft boil. Remove from the heat and side aside to cool
8) After you have turned the cake out of the pan, brush the cake with the coffee syrup. Spring the cake with sanding sugar and serve with berries.
