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The family of Antonio de Tassis (1584-1651) came from Bergamo, and developed the first postal system in Europe in the late fifteenth century. Antonio fought in the army of the Spanish Netherlands against the States General, losing his left arm. His wide garment in the portrait, which shows him as a canon in Antwerp Cathedral, conceals the missing arm.
The portrait was painted during van Dyck's short stay in Antwerp in 1632. It shows the sitter at the age of fifty.
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