A Van Dyke (sometimes spelled Vandyke, or Van Dyck) is a style of facial hair named after the 17th-century Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). The artist's name is today normally spelt as “van Dyck", though there are many variants, but when the term for the beard became popular "Van Dyke" was more common in English. A Van Dyke specifically consists of any growth of both a

moustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...

and

goatee A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on one's chin but not the cheeks. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture. Description Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer sol ...

with all hair on the cheeks shaved. Even this particular style, though, has many variants, including a curled moustache versus a non-curled one and a soul patch versus none. The style is sometimes called a "Charlie" after King Charles I of England, who was painted with this type of beard by van Dyck. "Pike-devant" or "pickedevant" are other little-known synonyms for a Van Dyke beard.

Popularity

This style of beard was popular in Europe in the 17th century. It died out in Britain with the Restoration, when French styles and wigs became popular. The Van Dyke beard style is named after the 17th-century Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyke. For some time after, however, some men, known as "vow-beards", continued to wear them, vowing to wear them until the King did so again. It became popular in the United States in the 19th century. Columnist Edith Sessions Tupper, of the ''Chicago Chronicle'' (1895–1908), condemned this style, along with the

, as indicative of a man "who was selfish, sinister, and pompous as a peacock." The style was worn by van Dyck himself and by many of the sitters for his portraits, including King Charles I of England. The Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin also wore a Van Dyke. The Van Dyke had a revival in the 19th century and was worn by several well-known figures, including General Custer (among other styles) and the actor Monty Woolley.

Colonel Sanders Colonel Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand amba ...

would also qualify as having a Van Dyke.

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

wore a Van Dyke when playing the War Doctor on the '' Doctor Who'' episodes '' The Night of the Doctor'' and '' The Day of the Doctor''.

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

, member of the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...

at the beginning of the 17th century, had also a Van Dyke beard around the time period when the namesake was born; his face is still shown in public today by various movements due to the stylised

Guy Fawkes mask The Guy Fawkes mask (also known as the ''V for Vendetta'' mask or Anonymous mask) is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes (the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London on 5November 1605) created ...

Examples

File:Portret van Maurits, prins van Oranje Rijksmuseum SK-A-255.jpeg, Maurice, Prince of Orange, by Michiel van Mierevelt (c. 1613–20) File:Kaiser Ferdinand II. 1614.jpg, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, unknown artist (1614) File:Charles Bonaventura de Longueval, Count de Bucquoi, by Pieter Paul Rubens.jpg, Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy, by Peter Paul Rubens (1621) File:Attributed to Jacob Hoefnagel - Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden 1611-1632 - Google Art Project.jpg, Gustavus Adolphus, attrib. Jacob Hoefnagel (1624) File:Arminius 5.jpg,

Jacobus Arminius Jacobus Arminius (10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609), the Latinized name of Jakob Hermanszoon, was a Dutch theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. H ...

, by Willem Isaacsz Swanenburg (1625) File:Charlesx3.JPG, Charles I of England by Anthony van Dyck (1635-6) File:Triple Portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu probably 1642, Philippe de Champaigne.jpg, Cardinal de Richelieu, by

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Brabançon-born French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school. He was a founding member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, the premier art ...

(c. 1642) File:Antonio Maria Esquivel portrait.jpg, Antonio María Esquivel (1847) File:Zeller.jpg,

Carl Zeller Carl Adam Johann Nepomuk Zeller (19 June 1842 – 17 August 1898) was an Austrian composer of operettas. Zeller was born in Sankt Peter in der Au, the only child of physician Johann Zeller and Maria Anna Elizabeth. Zeller's father died before hi ...

File:Jean Augustin Daiwaille - Zelfportret.jpg, Self-portrait by Jean Augustin Daiwaille Dutch portrait painter (1801-1850) File:WScottHancock.jpg,

Winfield Scott Hancock Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service ...

(1863) File:G a custer.jpg,

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

(1865) File:Augustins - Portrait du peintre espagnol Matías Moreno - Charles Durand dit Carolus-Duran P1652.jpg, Matías Moreno (1866) File:Buffalo Bill Cody ca1875.jpg, Buffalo Bill (William Cody) (c. 1875) File:Edward S. Curtis self portrait 1899.jpg, Edward S. Curtis (1899) File:Wilhelm-maybach-1900.jpg, Wilhelm Maybach (1900) File:WarrenCColeman.jpg,

Warren Clay Coleman Warren Clay Coleman (May 25, 1849 – May 24, 1904) was an African-American businessman in south-central North Carolina known as a founder of the Coleman Manufacturing Company, which built one of the first black-owned and operated textile mills ...

File:William Wetmore Story.jpg, William Wetmore Story File:LeninEnSuizaMarzo1916--barbaroussovietr00mcbr.png, Vladimir Lenin (1920) File:Rudolph Valentino with beard 1924.jpg, Rudolph Valentino (1924) File:Colonel Harland Sanders in character.jpg,

(c. 1974) File:Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Portrait (5).jpg,

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

(1988) File:Pierce Brosnan at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival.jpg, Pierce Brosnan (2005) File:Aimone di Savoia Aosta.JPG,

Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, 6th Duke of Aosta (Aimone Umberto Emanuele Filiberto Luigi Amedeo Elena Maria Fiorenzo di Savoia-Aosta; born 13 October 1967) is one of two claimants to be head of the House of Savoy. Since November 2019, he has se ...

(2006) File:Christian Bale 2009.jpg, Christian Bale (2009) File:JohnnyDeppApr2011.jpg, Johnny Depp (2011)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Beard styles