soldportrait of a gentleman c1665 attributed to pieter borssaelaer

SOLD....Portrait of a Gentleman c.1665; Attributed to Pieter Borssaelaer


Price

POA

Item Ref

8407

Description

Oil on canvas laid on board, unframed.
A good quality painting typical of Borsselaer's work, his portraits always show a seriousness and concern for individual character.
Here the sitter has been depicted with a thoughtful and melancholy expression intended to convey the idea that this man is sensitive and serious...a man who perhaps wrote poetry in his leisure hours (as many gentlemen did). This was a desirable and fashionable image at the period.
To be thought of by one's peers as shallow..a mere fop.. was social death.
He is expensively dressed 'a la mode' and his large costly wig also shows his status.
All together, this is a portrait which tells a great deal about the social mores of the time, and in particular of the way this man liked to be perceived.
PIETER BORSSELAER (active 1644-1687).
A Dutch Roman Catholic, a portrait and history painter. He married at Goes in 1644 and was in England 1664-1679 before returning to Holland where he worked at The Hague and Middelburg.
An example of his work is the Tate Gallery, London.
SIZE: 36 x 28 inches
PROVENANCE: a Somerset Private Collection for many years.
Internal Ref: 8407



This item is SOLD and is no longer available to purchase.

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