Portrait of a Man with a Shell. Artist: Thomas de Keyser (Dutch, Amsterdam () 1596/97-1667 Amsterdam). Dimensions: 9 3/8 x 6 3/4 in. (23.8 x 17.1 cm). Date: ca. 1625-26.The man is a shell collector, in an age when foreign trade opened up a wide world of natural curiosities. His wife holds a balance, symbolizing the virtue of temperance. De Keyser was one of the leading portraitists in Amsterdam during the 1620s and 1630s. He is best known for small full-length portraits, but he also painted large group portraits and small bust- and half-length portraits. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.