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Why did Anthony van Dyck add columns and other props to some early portraits?
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Anthony van Dyck
Self-Portrait, oil on canvas by Anthony Van Dyck, c. 1620–21; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. 119.7 × 87.9 cm.
Anthony van Dyck began incorporating props, such as columns, into his portraits under the influence of Peter Paul Rubens. While his earliest portraits featured neutral backgrounds, he adopted these elements to enrich the settings of his compositions.1