In 1864, the painting was purchased by the National Gallery in London as a work attributed to Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens.

Van der Geest, a wealthy spice merchant from Antwerp, was an avid art collector and commissioned the painting.

[1] From 1620 to 1796 its ownership was unknown; the known provenance begins with its sale at an auction in 1796, when it was thought to be an image of Gaspar Gevartius.

The National Gallery is certain that the head and collar are the work of van Dyck, but they are uncertain about who painted the rest of the image.

[3] The use of X-ray technology has shown that the original painting may have been only the head inside a simulated oval frame, without the dark background.

[1] The portrait includes only van der Geest's head and shoulders, which allowed the artist to concentrate on the facial features and details of the white ruffled collar.

[8] In the book Anthony van Dyck: A Further Study British art historian Lionel Cust describes the painting as "elaborately and carefully constructed, built up and modelled to the extreme point of academic precision".