Description

This charming portrait is "an example of a new type of portrait that Thomas de Keyser had been developing since 1620; small, full-length portraits were an innovation in Amsterdam portraiture. These polished and elegant portraits, which make such a powerful impact despite their relatively small size are the highlight of de Keyser's oeuvre and help to explain his great success in Amsterdam." (Dutch Portraits. Published by The National Gallery)
This prosperous family are all fashionably and expensively dressed and it seems as if the painting carries a message, not known to us. They stand, the little girl looking up at her mother, as if they have just exited a cave behind them. The lady looks quietly content as her husband points the way past a ruinous building. Whatever the message was it seems to have been one of wealth, hope and confidence.
THOMAS DE KEYSER, (1596 - 1667) was the second son of Hendrick de Keyser (1565–1621), the famed Dutch architect, sculptor, and municipal stonemason of the city of Amsterdam, and his wife Beyken (Barbara) van Wildere, who hailed from Antwerp. Thomas de Keyser gained lasting renown for a significant innovation in Dutch portraiture. He began to paint the Dutch elite in full-length formal portraits, a format hitherto reserved for the aristocracy, but he drastically reduced the scale of such portraits to make them suitable for his patrons’ urban homes. Despite his fame as a portraitist, De Keyser produced slightly fewer than one hundred paintings. He created the bulk of his oeuvre in the period between 1624 and 1639, after which his primary focus shifted back to the lucrative international stone trade, yielding the Amsterdam portraiture market to Rembrandt, Govaert Flinck (Dutch, 1615 - 1660), and Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613–1670).
SIZE: 35.25 x 31.25 x 1.75 inches including the frame.
PROVENANCE: London Private Collection.
Internal Ref: 9160

Dimensions

Height = 82 cm (32")
Width = 79.5 cm (31")
Depth = 4.5 cm (2")